Operation Exodus
by zagor03
Summary: A few years before the fall of the Colonies a plan was put in motion in case the Cylons returned and destroyed everything; in order to ensure the survival of humanity. Operation Exodus starts a year and a half before the fall of the twelve colonies...
1. 1x01 Path to Unknown pt1

**The Cylons were created by Man. **

**They were created to make life easier on the Twelve Colonies. **

**And then the day came when the Cylons decided to kill their masters. **

**After a long and bloody struggle, an armistice was declared. **

**The Cylons left for another world to call their own. **

**A remote space station was built... **

**Where Cylons and humans could meet and maintain diplomatic relations. **

**Every year, the Colonials send an officer... **

**The Cylons send no one. **

**No one has seen or heard from the Cylons in over forty years... **

**-Opening text of the Battlestar Galactica Miniseries**

**Prologue**

There are those who believe that the Cylon threat is not over. The Cylon war ended almost 40 years ago, but some are convinced that they will return. Once they come, they would mostly certainly want to finish the job they started and exterminate humanity once and for all.

So a secret group was formed under the name Last Hope Plan or LHP.

It was founded by current Fleet Admiral Richard Torres, Admiral Nagala, Admiral Westwood, and several others. All of them believe that the Cylons will return one day and when they do there's no telling what could happen. Given the reductions in the colonial fleet over time there was a fear that the colonial fleet might just lose the fight against the Cylons should they return.

Operation Exodus was a plan created by several large Colonial corporations and the military. The Colonial government was never allowed to know about it because of the politicians who just don't understand the dangers the Cylons represent.

The original plan was to send several well-armed ships accompanied by dozens of civilian ships to establish a secret colony to ensure the survival of the human race.

It took almost 8 years to build the fleet and make it ready. Nobody in the colonies except those who planned it and the 14085 souls that manned the mission know about it; with only a few higher up officers knowing all the mission details.

The goal of the mission is to create a colony far away from the twelve colonies, so if the Cylons or any other enemy should threaten the twelve worlds there would be an emergency fallback position to ensure humanity's survival. Although president Adar later approved the Copernicus project, he never knew anything about there being another colony.

**Path To The Unknown Part I**

**Fleet Admirals Office  
>Picon Fleet Station, Picon<br>0500**

**18 months before the Fall, 2 weeks before mission launch.**

"Are you sure Nagala, that this is the right man for the mission?" Fleet Admiral Torres asked, "Because once he's chosen there is no going back, and the mission starts in two weeks."

"I know him quite well Richard, there's nothing to worry about with him," Admiral Nagala replied confidently.

Admiral Torres looked through the window to watch Picon and its beautiful colors beneath him.

"You know we can't withhold this forever, and actually I think Adar may have some information about the mission," Admiral Torres said worriedly.

"Even if they found something out, it would not be enough to compromise this mission," Admiral Nagala said, taking a glass of ambrosia that Torres put in front of him and then added, "you know as well as I do that Adar is a fool. He doesn't want to see the truth of what's happening past the armistice line: he refuses to believe the Cylons are up to something. He is ignoring the intelligence that we presented to him about the Cylons weapon testing," Admiral Nagala said.

"Nukes don't fall by themselves. The fact is, he is a stubborn man and he refuses to believe it's possible the Cylons are planning a return in the worst sort of way. He will find out about the mission eventually, and until then we need to prepare in the best interest of the colonies regardless," Admiral Torres said determinedly. "Do all the personnel know where they going and what they will do?" Admiral Torres asked.

"The civilian pioneers and a majority of the military personnel for the mission know everything they need to and are ready to get going. Only Commander Mark Stryker doesn't know anything about it right now," Admiral Nagala replied.

"Alright then, go and give command of the Atlantis to Commander Stryker. I've seen his record and I think he will be fine, and I trust your judgment. Also, don't forget to give him all he will need to complete this mission," Admiral Torres said.

"Yes sir!" Admiral Nagala said, saluted, and left Admiral Torres to himself as he went to the flight deck.

**Picon Shipyards  
>Starboard Hangar Deck<br>Battlestar Atlantis**

**0700**

**2 Weeks before launch**

"Ah, I see you made it in one piece Commander Stryker, good," Admiral Nagala said to Stryker as he exited the raptor. "I assume you know why you are being moved to the Atlantis from the Triton," Nagala stated.

"The only thing that I've been told sir is that this is a very important mission for the colonies," Commander Stryker replied, "and I was surprised when Admiral Richardson gave me a promotion sir!"

"Let's go to C.I.C, I will tell you all you will need to know," Admiral Nagala said and they started walking toward the nearest door that would lead them to C.I.C.

"You see Commander," Nagala started, "for some time now, we've believed that the Cylons will be returning, but not with open arms."

"Cylons returning?" Commander Stryker said, stopping to look at Nagala with disbelief, "you say the Cylons will return but how, when?"

"Nobody knows, but I have a hunch that it will be soon, very soon. That's why this mission is so important," Admiral Nagala said.

"Battlestar Pleiades picked up some unusual readings from Cylon space, and other ships' sensors detected several nuclear explosions in Cylon space," Admiral Nagala said to the now shocked Commander Styker.

"And we're sure they're not testing those weapons only for fun; not where they could be caught red handed. Either they're being negligent in testing their weapons close to the colonies, or they want us to know they're coming. You see, when the Cylons departed colonial space almost 39 years ago, they took a lot of tech with them to include; nuclear weapons, genetic laboratory gear, and much more," Admiral Nagala said.

"But why would they need genetic labs?" Commander Stryker asked.

Admiral Nagala prepared to answer but was interrupted by one marine that said, "Admiral on deck."

"Carry on," Admiral Nagala said and added, "can I have everyone's attention please." The entire CIC crew stopped doing their jobs and looked up. "This is Commander Stryker, he is assigned as the commanding officer of this ship, I expect that you will follow all his orders properly," Admiral Nagala said.

"Commander, this is your XO Richard Haller, and Master Chief petty officer Ronald Walker," Admiral Nagala said pointing to two men that had just arrived in CIC.

"It's a pleasure sir," both the XO and Chief said.

"I will be taking the Commander to the Commanders flag suite," Admiral Nagala said and added, "Mister Haller, CIC is yours."

Haller nodded his head, "I have CIC aye sir."

**Flag Suite**

**Battlestar Atlantis**

"Your orders are to take your command and with several other ships go to these coordinates," Admiral Nagala said as they entered the room and held up a file with the target locations FTL coordinates to be reached at the end of their mission. "Your orders are to setup a colony there."

"Colony?" Commander Stryker asked.

"Yes Commander, Atlantis will be accompanied by Battlestars Sword and Pleiades, the Gunstars Iliad, Novalis, and Fortune, and the Warstar Argona a..." Admiral Nagala said before being interrupted.

"Warstar Argona sir?" Stryker interrupted, "I've never heard of her, or of the Sword."

"Of course you haven't," Admiral Nagala said smiling, "you see those two ships and the Atlantis were built in secrecy, and only a few high ranking military personal know about the Argona, Sword, and Atlantis, and that is for the best."

Nagala stopped for a second and then added, "yes I can also see by your face that you have a question about why the hell I brought a Warstar with me. She is not your usual Warstar; she is the second ship in the Andraste class, but she was remodeled to serve as a mobile repair and construction platform, and as such her left hangar pods have several dock extensions for ships to dock. In fact, she serves as a mobile dock for this expedition, an armed mobile dock."

"I must say that I'm in shock sir. I know only one Andraste was constructed and that was the Andraste herself," Commander Stryker replied in shock. "What I know is that the Quorum paid for only one ship, and with good reason. It's too damn expensive; I have to seriously doubt that they gave money for a second one to be constructed."

"You are correct Commander, they did not," Admiral Nagala said.

"Now here's the important part," Admiral Nagala continued, "this battle group is under LHP direction."

"LHP?" Commander Stryker asked.

"LHP or Last Hope Plan, is a group that is consisted from military and civilian companies not under the authority of the president or quorum. All ships carry colonial insignias, but they are not from the colonial fleet with the exceptions of the Pleiades and Gunstars, which are all officially retired," Admiral Nagala explained.

"All the ships were financed by the military and a few corporations. You know about Copernicus right?" Admiral Nagala asked. The Commander nodded his head.

"As you can guess, every Cylon will probably know about it, and about the ongoing mission that Prometheus is on in searching for Kobol and Earth," Admiral Nagala said.

"Yes sir, I heard about that, but I thought Earth was only a myth? Or is it?" Commander Stryker asked.

"As we know it, it is a myth," Admiral Nagala nodded, "but for the purpose of this mission: nobody knows. Once your ships are launched and far away from colonies then we will announce this to the president."

"I think the President's not going to be happy about this," Commander Stryker said.

"No, he and the quorum will be pissed, but that is not important at this time," Admiral Nagala said, and then gave the folder with all the information needed for the mission, such as the sheet on top that was a listing of fleet ships in Operation Exodus, to Commander Stryker.

"This is a list of ships, and officers of your fleet. Your fleet is currently stationed near Lobo Negro in the veil of Athena. This will give you a clear picture of the mission. I chose you, because you are one of the best officers we have - so don't screw this up," Admiral Nagala said.

**Starboard Hangar Deck  
>Battlestar Atlantis<strong>

As the Admiral prepared to leave he asked in a formal manner, "Permission to depart Commander?"

"Permission granted, and thank you sir!" Commander Stryker replied.

The Admiral nodded his head and then entered the raptor.

2 minutes later the Raptor left the ship.

Still in shock from what he heard and the job he was given, Commander Stryker started slowly walking to CIC.

**Battlestar Atlantis CIC**

**0750**

"Welcome back sir, I thought you were going to escape when you heard about our mission," Colonel Haller said, smiling.

"You and I have a lot to talk about Colonel Haller," Stryker said, "but that can wait, are we ready to depart?"

"Yes Sir! All section's report 100%, we are ready to go," Colonel Haller reported.

"Alright then, do we have permission to depart from the station?" Commander Stryker asked.

"The station gave us the green light sir," the communications officer replied.

"Good, helm one third back slowly," Commander Stryker said.

"Yes sir, one third back slowly," the helm officer said.

And then a massive Mercury block II class ship started to slowly move back from between two docks. The ship used its boosters to get clear, and exited the dock.

"We are out sir," the helm officer said.

"Good turn us to heading mark 6 carom 125, and prepare to jump to Lobo Negro station," Commander Stryker said.

"FTL engines online, we are ready for jump sir," the helm officer said.

"Good, on my mark,5,4,3,2,1 jump!" Commander Stryker said.

And the ship jumped.

Atlantis materialized near a massive ringed station. Lobo Negro station is one of two mobile stations built to serve as a mobile command post, as well as a mobile shipyard and repair station for ships in a state of need. Her sister station the Olympia was deployed in the Red Horse Nebula. The Nebula was filled with dangerous gasses and asteroids.

But Lobo Negro was put much closer to the colonies than her sister. The station was capable of housing 8 Battlestars on 8 docking piers for many purposes; construction, repairs, and even possible upgrades.  
>Currently the station housed only two Battlestars; the Nova, and Pleiades.<br>The Station had a crew of 7000 people onboard. Of those, 1000 are marines.  
>Although the Olympia class stations are old, more than 20 years since their creation, they are still in service. Some six were built and all but two remain in service, though officially all six were retired. Olympia and Lobo Negro were moved to secret locations, mostly inside of nebulas where they are very hard to find except when the location is known.<br>After she was retired, Lobo Negro station was moved outside the colonies and into a large massive nebula called the Veil of Athena. Its mission was primarily to serve as a test bed for new technologies, weapons, FTL Drives, and other new innovative stuff that colonial engineers developed.

**Atlantis CIC  
>Near Lobo Negro Station<br>Veil Of Athena**

"Jump completed sir!" the Helm Officer said, "We are 10km from the Lobo Negro station sir."

"Good, move us into range," Commander Stryker replied.

"Sir Battlestar Pleiades is docked with the station; Commander Neros says they will need a couple more days in dock, they had a small accident," Colonel Haller said.

"Hmmm, ask Commander Neros for the details of the accident, and what is with the other ships?" Commander Stryker asked.

"Battlestar Sword and Gunstars Iliad and Fortune will arrive in 3 days; they are at the Scorpion shipyards. Warstar Argona is docked with Olympia station to resupply the station. They will then go to the Scorpion shipyards for the colony materials. And Novalis is here already," Colonel Haller reported.

"And the civilians?" Commander Stryker asked.

"A couple of days, maybe more, as you know sir, a majority of the civilians will be onboard Argona, and as Argona still has some unfinished jobs it will take some time," Colonel Haller said.

"Alright. What about our viper squadrons? Are they ready?" Commander Stryker asked looking at some information on the CICs plot table.

"Major Kathy Morales will report to you soon as she arrives; currently her duties are being completed by Captain Jonas Furgon until then, and he is working with some fresh rookies that are onboard," Colonel Haller said.

"And where is the Major if that is not classified?" Commander Stryker asked with a smile

"She has taken a few days off sir, her mother died from cancer so she…" Colonel Haller said sadly, trailing off.

"I understand colonel, when she returns to the ship I want her to report to me," Commander Stryker said.

"Yes sir, and we also need 5 days for the new Titan class FTL engines to be installed," Colonel Haller said.

"New engines? I've never heard of that class," Commander Stryker said raising an eyebrow.

"Of course sir, you haven't! Very few know about them. Only the Argona and Atlantis will have those for now," Colonel Haller replied slyly.

"What about Pleiades, Sword, and the Gunstar?" Commander Stryker asked.

"Battlestars Pleiades and Sword are outfitted with Olympus Mk I FTL engines; as you know the new Nova class is currently the only ship that uses those, and a better version called the Mk II for the upgrades to the original," Colonel Haller explained.

"I see, well, I will also need a few days to get to know the ships myself, but for now I think I will go get some sleep. I haven't slept for 20 hours now. CIC is yours colonel," Commander Stryker said.

"Yes sir," Colonel Haller said.

**It Will Contine...**


	2. 1x02 Path To Unknown pt2

**Path to the Unknown Part II**

**12 Days Later Battlestar Atlantis C.I.C.**

**Orbiting Lobo Negro Station**

**2 Days Before Planned Departure**

In the Atlantis CIC everything was quiet as everyone waited for the last ship to finally arrive. When suddenly...

"Sir, Argona just jumped in and it's not alone," the communications officer said.

"Finally, and what other ships are with the Argona?" Commander Stryker asked.

"The Medstar Caduceus and two Cygnus class Heavy Gunstars; the Cygnus and Onyx, along with the Mobile drydock Invictus," Colonel Haller said, "Admiral Nagala assigned those ships to our expedition believing that a fully equipped Medstar could help us a lot with establishing the colony, and those two Gunstars are only for additional support."

"Hmmm… I see. Well I'm not too happy to have so many ships under my command; after all, that's a job for an Admiral and not for a Commander," Commander Stryker said worriedly running his hands through his hair, wondering to himself if he was up to the task of leading such a large fleet.

"Sir! If Admiral Nagala put you in charge then you clearly are ready for it and deserve it," Colonel Haller said reassuringly.

"And yes sir, I almost forgot, Commander Thompson said that the mobile support dock has successfully docked with the port landing bay," Colonel Haller said, running through the messages to Atlantis from the Warstar Argona.

"Is there a mistake? Admiral Nagala said that the Argona would serve as a mobile platform with docks on her side, but now we have a fully equipped drydock?" Commander Stryker asked in confusion.

"No sir, it is not a mistake; Argona has had a small modification to her pods, but the admiral wanted us to have a fully equipped mobile dock for our ships. Having the Argona refitted into a full mobile dock was not possible due to time restrictions. From what I see from the messages Argona sent here, the mobile dock Invictus is the first of her kind and can hold any ship in our fleet, including the Argona itself. Additionally; she has 600 vipers, 200 raptors, 24 stealth raptors, 24 scimitar bombers, 12 heavy shuttles, and lots of tools, supplies and all the other stuff we could possibly need!" Colonel Haller replied, his eyes bugging out at the mobile docks capabilities.

"There's also 3,000 people on board that ship to add to our numbers. Admiral Nagalas orders are that when we reach the coordinates of the planet, Invictus will serve as a command base for repairs and protection. Once we arrive and establish the colony; Pleiades, Atlantis, and Argona are to return back to the fleet base. With only the Battlestar Sword and her three Gunstars to serve as the defense forces for the colony until the others return," Colonel Haller said.

"I see," Commander Stryker said and added, "Well then it seems everything is ready, open a channel to all ships."

"Channel open sir!" the communications officer replied a few moments later.

"This is Commander Stryker from the Battlestar Atlantis. With the last ships having arrived and all of our supplies and materials taken onboard, we are ready for a long voyage into the unknown. Our goal is to set up a new colony on a world that one of our probes found. Our Journey will take about 11 months if everything goes as planned. Military personnel for this mission were assigned directly by Colonial Command, and the civilians are volunteers for this mission. If anyone of you wants to back out: now is the time. Our mission is crucial for the colonies. I expect everyone to fulfill their duties and stay attentive to their jobs. I hope our journey will be blessed by the gods. So Say We All!" Commander Stryker said.

"So Say We All!" could be heard all around fleet.

"Colonel, give the coordinates for the first jump to all ships and inform all ships to be ready to jump in five minutes," Commander Stryker said turning to Colonel Haller.

"Yes sir, but can I ask why we are leaving 2 days ahead of schedule?" Colonel Haller asked.

"We finished our preparations and everything is ready, so there is no need to wait two more days. Send a message informing Admiral Nagala of my intention to leave early," Commander Stryker replied.

**Battlestar Atlantis C.I.C.**

**5 minutes later**

"All ships ready and all systems green. We are ready to go sir!" Colonel Haller reported.

"Thank you Colonel," Commander Stryker replied, "start the 10 seconds jump countdown."

"10,9,8,7,6,5,4,3,2,1… jump," Colonel Haller said.

In space all the ships began to disappear in flashes of light.

**Picon, Picon HQ Station**

**Fleet Admiral Torres Office**

"So they have departed?" Fleet Admiral Torres asked.

"Yes sir, and from what Colonel Haller reported to me Commander Stryker was not happy about the number of ships in the fleet," Admiral Nagala replied and continued, "but he is an excellent choice for this mission. He is not a person that follows every rule by the book as he loves to make his own rules. Did you know that he beat Admiral Cain in the war games a few months ago?"

"Not really, but the Battlestar Triton versus Battlestar Pegasus is hardly a big deal given that they're both mercury class Battlestars," Admiral Torres said unconcerned.

"Not with the Triton, but the Poseidon," Admiral Nagala said grinning, "He beat a Mercury class Battlestar with a Valkyrie class Battlestar."

"Yes, if anyone can do this mission right it's him, whether he likes it or not. Besides that is not our biggest problem now," Admiral Torres said.

"What kind of problem?" Admiral Nagala asked.

"Do you remember the Sanctuary project?" Admiral Torres asked.

"Of course, the biggest ship ever constructed by the colonial navy, and our biggest loss," Admiral Nagala said somberly remembering the disastrous incident and the blowup of the civilians politically attacking the military for the mistake.

"Adar was against it, saying that it was too damn expensive to create such a massive ship, the super Warstar class. But I convinced Adar that this ship would have the power of half a dozen Mercury or Nova class Battlestars, and he finally agreed to build one. For three years the ship was under construction and a year ago when it was finally finished and put in service on Sanctuary's first voyage she jumped and she disappeared. There were 10,000 people on board when she jumped. Nobody knows anything about what happened to her; where she went or how she jumped so unexpectedly, and Adar didn't forgive me for that. He believes that I am responsible; for the loss of lives, and resources," Admiral Torres said.

"Sir, you are not guilty for whatever happened to that ship! For all we know she simply disappeared, we just don't know what happen to her. It was an accident," Admiral Nagala said.

"Yes a very costly accident, and if our dear President finds out about our mission and all the ships we used we will be arrested for treason against the government," Admiral Torres said.

**Battlestar Atlantis Flag Suite**

Commander Stryker sat looking over the list of ships under his command.

Warstar Argona

Battlestar Atlantis

Battlestar Pleiades

Battlestar Sword

Medstar Caduceus

Mobile Drydock Invictus

Heavy Gunstar Cygnus

Heavy Gunstar Onyx

Gunstar Illiad

Gunstar Novalis

Gunstar Fortune

Colony ship Taurus

Electronics ship Darthon

Tanker Ship Coursica

Tanker Ship Callpadia

Heavy Transport Epica

Survey ship Spica

Many thoughts plagued Commander Strykers mind; too many ships were under his command, was he ready? Too late for that question at this point. Admiral Nagala had faith in him, and trusted him enough to give him a mission of great importance to the 12 Colonies.

Commander Stryker thought about the Triton, and how much he missed his old ship. It was his first real command. The Battlestar Triton was a standard Mercury Mk I Battlestar; well-armed, and armored. Then there was the Poseidon, where he was the first officer and where he beat Cain and the mighty Pegasus using a supposedly less powerful Valkyrie class Battlestar. Now he was in charge of a fleet of ships. He would have to handle this extremely carefully for sure.

**Cylon Space**

**Cylon Home World**

"You promised me that the missiles would be much more effective and destructive than what I saw," John Cavil said angrily.

"We had some small problems with the new missile systems," Leoben replied evenly.

"A problem? We need to strike at the humans as soon and as fast as possible!" Cavil said forcefully, glaring at Leoben.

"We are not ready for that. We know that the CNP program is installed on almost 80% of their ships, but that still leaves 20% that are still working without it," a Six model known as Kathy said.

"And what is the delay of the installation of the program on other ships?" Cavil asked, silently cursing the stupidity of his fellow Cylons for their mistakes.

"Admiral Nagala. From the Intel we have received, we know that despite President Adar orders to install the CNP on every Battlestar, Admiral Nagala and Fleet Admiral Torres have not agreed to do it and they are delaying the installation in as many ships as they can. It appears they believe that the CNP could be a trap, and that it will make them vulnerable if we attack," Doral replied.

"So we eliminate them and the problem is solved!" John Cavil said simply.

"Hmmm, that is not how we should proceed. The murder of the two highest officers in the Colonial Fleet would not be good for our plan. Besides, they can't do very much; over 60% of their ships already have the CNP. It is only a matter of time until the remaining 40% also receive the upgrade," Kathy said and continued, "I'm more concerned about reports of phantom ships that were reported to the President's office quietly."

"Phantom ships? Explain," John Cavil demanded.

"Well, our spy in the President's office said that President Adar received some information about ships that are not registered in the fleet. We don't know anything about this story," Kathy said.

"We will investigate this, but later, now it is not important. What about this Sanctuary Project, are the colonials building more of them?" John Cavil asked.

"Our intelligence on this topic is that after the disaster with the original Sanctuary, they shut the program down. Which was logical as it was too expensive, even more so than creating an Andraste class Warstar. For now, we know that our agents were not on board when the ship was launched and when it disappeared. It simply jumped and disappeared," Leoben replied.

"So it was technical error?" John Cavil asked in disbelief.

"Yes," Leoben said simply.

"And we don't know where that ship jumped, or if she survived the jump!" John Cavil shouted.

"That is hard to say, a ship of that size and with an engine block bigger than a small Battlestar; it's quite possible for it to be anywhere in the galaxy. However, it's not our problem anymore and it saves us the trouble of destroying it ourselves," Leoben said.

"Good; I want a full investigation about those phantom ships, and also those ships that are still not upgraded with CNP. In case they are not ready when we attack, we will attack those ships first," John Cavil said.

**Day 25**

**Battlestar Atlantis - Atlantis Flag Suite**

Commander Stryker sat writing in his journal while slowly drinking his coffee.

_It's been 25 days since our departure and we just jumped for the 46th time. Following Admiral Nagala's instructions, I have ordered a 6 hour break after every jump for our scout raptors to snoop around and map out exactly what's out there. So far we haven't found anything really interesting; just a few gas giants, and several cold rocks without any life on them. We also found a large deposit of Tylium. We marked it for future expeditions._

_The crews are acting as they should. It's hard to believe that I'm only a few years older than a majority of them. Chief Engineer Fanner reported a small problem with the engines, probably due to all these jumps. It should be fixed shortly._

_It was hard for me to take on this mission, believing that it should have gone to someone with more experience. I'm getting to know the crew of this ship, and I have faith in them to complete this mission for the survival of the colonies._

_I hope we will finish this mission and return to our homes without any trouble or accidents. I didn't question the Admiral's orders; he must have a damn good reason for doing this. Fleet Command must have reason to believe that they need a colony so far from the 12 colonies._

**Day 27**

**Atlantis C.I.C.**

Colonel Haller and Commander Stryker looked at the screen as reports came in from their scout raptors.

"Sir, Raptor 285 just jumped in. They say that they've found something," the communications officer said excitedly.

"What did they find?" Commander Stryker asked.

"A ship sir, or to say it more accurately; a wreck," the communications officer replied.

"I want a full report in 15 minutes," Commander Stryker said.

"Yes sir," the communications officer said.

**15 minutes later**

**Atlantis Flag Suite**

"Enter gentlemen," Commander Stryker said after hearing a knock from the door.

Lieutenant Marks and Ensign Keller entered the room.

"Sit gentlemen," Commander Stryker said, "now, tell me what you found. I saw the images, but you have a better understanding from actually seeing it up close," Commander Stryker said.

"For one Sir, the ship is not colonial. Secondly, it was so damaged that I hardly think there will be anything useful enough to get identification from it," Lieutenant Marks stated.

"No idea where it came from?" Commander Stryker asked.

"No sir, except that it looks like it has been here for years, if not centuries," Lieutenant Marks replied.

"We didn't find any life form signatures, no markings on the ship hull, and actually it was very hard to find anything given that there is no part of the hull that is not damaged. She was about 800 meters long, relatively small in our terms, but several areas on the ship seem to have had enough weapon emplacements to have been considered well-armed," Ensign Keller said.

"That's all for now," Commander Stryker said and both men exited the room after saluting.

"Colonel to my office now," Commander Stryker requested of CIC.

Colonel Haller entered the room and sat opposite the Commander.

"Colonel, I want you to send three raptors to that ship and have some engineers and marines to find out whatever you can about it. If possible, download its logs, and anything that could help us to figure out what happened to it. If that ship was destroyed here, I want to know what destroyed it. Who knows what could be awaiting us at our next jump," Commander Stryker said worriedly.

"Yes sir," Colonel Heller said.

"And Colonel, tell whoever you choose to lead this mission that they have 8 hours," Commander Stryker said.

"Yes sir. Sergeant Davison will do this job quickly and efficiently," Colonel Heller said.

**System 310**

Three raptors jumped in formation into the system near the wreck of the unknown ship.

"Damn it was torn up," one of the marines said.

"Yes, it is," Sergeant Davison said nodding.

All three raptors reached the destroyed ship, and a few seconds later they split up to search for a place to dock, but unfortunately there wasn't a safe docking location.

"Hmmm, it appears that the docking port was completely destroyed," the co-pilot of Davison's raptor said.

"From my scans, it appears the ship is a total wreck. I doubt we will find anything useful, but we will keep looking," Sergeant Davidson said.

About five hours later, the three raptors jumped back to the fleet. The report was not immense, since there was nothing useful to find. It was found that the ship was about 700 years old, but what happened to it was a mystery.

Commander Stryker ordered the fleet to jump to the next set of coordinates.

But in his head, his thoughts were confused; a derelict ship, blasted into oblivion 700 years ago, why, from who? All those questions, and they didn't find any answers! Not a single one and something terrible had happened here a long time ago.

The Fleet continued jumping and was closer and closer to reaching its goal. There were only a few small accidents so far, nothing deadly. All ships performed well, and all military ships performed a standard set of drills as a precaution.

Stryker didn't believe that everything would go as planned, but so far things were going according to plan.


	3. 1x03 Shadows Of Past

**Shadows Of The Past**

**Day 40 since Atlantis fleet departed for mission**

It's been almost two weeks since Atlantis and her fleet found a wreck of an old unknown ship. Commander Stryker knew that people in the fleet were concerned; this part of space they'd entered was unknown to the Colonials, except for a few drone probes sent ahead, nobody had ever explored it before. Scouting raptors hadn't found much to report; mostly barren rocks, hot hell like planets, two gas type nebulas, several asteroid belts, and a tylium deposit they marked for future expeditions. This sector was a lifeless part of space. However, the crew started to feel and act like they were being followed. Like something was stalking them. Several times, blips on the scanners showed and disappeared.

**Atlantis C.I.C.**  
>"Commander on deck," Lieutenant Wilson yelled when Commander Stryker entered the CIC.<p>

"At ease people," Commander Stryker said, "Lieutenant, is my analysis of those fragments from the wreck we found ready yet?"

"Not yet sir, the computer said it is an unknown alloy, and it is hard to connect it with anything in our databases," Lieutenant Wilson replied.

Doctor Donald Aren was the chief scientist of the expedition, but also the inventor of the new missile system called IDS (Intelligent Delivery System). All 48 tubes on the Battlestar Atlantis for Nuclear and conventional missiles were upgraded with this system.

"I think I shall go and visit Mr. Aren. Besides, since we left Colonies I haven't had a chance to visit Invictus," Commander Stryker said.

**25 minutes later**

**Mobile Drydock Invictus – forward flight pod**

Commander Stryker exited his raptor and was welcomed by Commander Krasner, Commanding Officer of the Drydock Invictus, and Dr. Aren himself.

"Welcome aboard Invictus Commander," Commander Krasner said.

"Thank you, this is my first time here," Commander Stryker replied and continued, "I was told a majority of the colonists were originally on board Argona and remain on the Colony ship Taurus. What do you have here Commander?" Commander Stryker asked while they were passing the nearest corridor.

"Well, this vessel is actually a large shipyard; outfitted with Viper and Raptor production factories, and with enough space for building any kind of ship from a Gunstar to a Mercury class Battlestar. There's also an ammo storage and production facility for fighters, bombers, and Battlestars. As well as spare parts shops, and repair shops. We also have two spare Celestus jump engines, of which I believe one is meant for the Battlestar Sword once we get to our target location. And to add to all of this there is a small factory for ground forces. The Invictus carries 600 vipers, 200 raptors, 24 stealth raptors, 24 scimitar bombers, 12 heavy shuttles, and has space for even more small craft if the need arises. Invictus also carries an impressive array of weaponry; from the main cannons that are normally used on Battlestars all around the ship, plus the most advanced point defense grid ever installed on any colonial ships except maybe for Battlestars Atlantis, Prometheus, and the Warstar Argona," Commander Krasner said.

"Well Commander Krasner I must say I'm impressed. With factories and supplies on the Argona, Invictus is a great addition to our expedition. Due to several unknown contacts in the last few week, I want all vipers and raptors brought to a fully ready condition. I would rather be ready and not need them, than need them and not have them," Commander Stryker said.

"Yes Commander, and I must say I am glad that you are in command. I've heard many good things about you, especially how you kicked Cain's ass with Poseidon," Commander Krasner said with a smile.

"Well somebody needed to teach her a lesson," Stryker said, "and what about you Dr. Aren? What can you report?"

"Sir, since Commander Krasner described all the technical and other important military stuff, I will say that all of our labs are fully functional; both technical and biological, we have the most advanced technology in those fields. Also, we have large water and fuel tanks that can support the entire fleet for six months, and with conservation we could stretch that to a year. Right now, they are still at over 80% capacity. We also have a green zone on board this ship in short arboretums where we are growing all kind of plants for food. Plus, there is a large sick bay on Invictus, and it is as advanced as the one on Caduceus. But since Caduceus is a medical ship, it has a lot more room for patients and wounded personnel if necessary," Dr. Aren said, "I must also say that Dr. Rodham informed me, that we have enough medical supplies to last for many years. Also this ship has the best recreation facilities in the fleet, for all kind of sports so that the crew and the colonists can enjoy themselves."

"Before you ask, Sir, about the alloys we found on that derelict ship or wreck since there's not much left to be recognized as a ship. I did find something; the first alloy is unknown to us, it is light but incredibly strong and resistant to damage. The second alloy that I didn't mention is actually a similar alloy that we use on our ships. It is ablative armor sir! But that is all that I can say," Dr. Aren reported.

"Thank you for the report gentlemen. But I don't understand; were there not markings or anything else on those alloys, anything that can tell us who built it, or what destroyed it?" Commander Stryker asked.

"No sir, the entire wreck was heavily damaged, and the ship was in such a mess that it was not possible to find anything. Whatever destroyed the ship must be extremely powerful, and I hope we don't come across it ourselves," Dr. Aren said.

"Hardly after 700 years, but why are you afraid?" Commander Stryker asked.

"Well for one thing, it destroyed a ship that was covered with a much more advanced and stronger armor than our ships, and if we run into those responsible for destroying that ship, well, no matter how powerful our ships are, I don't think it would be good for us," Dr. Aren said worriedly.

"Okay and what can you say about those false readings that we have been getting?" Commander Stryker asked.

"Not much, but I have two or maybe three theories sir. First, it is possible that this part of space or at least this sector may have gravi-metric or subspace distortions, and it is too bad that our knowledge about that is too small even when we have enough advanced technology to fly between stars. Second, which would be similar to the first, is that it's not distortion but possible wormholes or micro black holes; we know of only one black hole in the vicinity of the twelve colonies, and that is in the Hades sector. But there is the chance that there are small micro holes all around this sector. And the third and more science fiction possibility is that there is a cloaked ship out there," Dr. Aren said.

"A cloaked ship?" Commander Stryker asked.

"Yes sir, if this space belongs to an advanced species, and if they have technology that allows them to cloak their ships; they could use it to protect it against intruders, in this case we are intruders, and there is a good chance that they could be observing us," Dr. Aren said.

"And if that is true why haven't they attacked yet?" Commander Stryker asked.

"To be honest, I don't know. Maybe they're scanning us to see if we are a threat or not, or maybe we haven't made a move that they might see as hostile. I really can't say sir, I am not a solider, but I suggest we continue without too much looking around, and be on alert," Dr. Aren said.

"Alright Doctor, Commander, I think that is all for today; I should go back to Atlantis," Commander Stryker said.

"Sir before you go, there is something else," Dr. Aren added.

"What doc?" Commander Stryker asked.

"Well sir, there is something very strange in those alloys that we picked up. The strangest thing is the type of offensive weapon that took down the ship," Dr. Aren said.

"What about it?" Commander Stryker asked.

"From my analysis, the armor was not hit by any known weaponry we know of in practice," Dr. Aren said.

"What do you mean?" Commander Stryker asked.

"It was not hit by a rail gun or missile, or heavy cannons that we have in use. It appears to have been hit by an energy based weapon. As you know sir, back on the colonies I experimented with a new kind of weaponry based on energy. This is similar, but much more advanced," Dr. Aren said.

"So it gives proof that it was an advanced race that destroyed that unknown ship?" Commander Stryker asked.

"Correct, it was a very advanced race," Dr. Aren said.

Commander Stryker realized just how big the danger they could be in. And if they were to find those aliens, it could be a big problem as to how to defend themselves against an attack.

"Thank you for now doctor," Commander Stryker said and turned away heading towards the flight deck.

**30 Minutes Later**

**Atlantis C.I.C.**

"So what do you think about Invictus Commander?" Colonel Haller asked.

"She's very impressive," Commander Stryker replied.

"You should see Argona, damn those boys and girls on the shipyards really made her worth every cubit," Colonel Haller said chuckling.

Commander Stryker had just started to reply when the Ensign on watch came near the Commander and gave him a report.

"Sir this is a report from raptor 221, they found something and this time it is a lot bigger," the Ensign said.

It took another 30 minutes before raptor 221 landed and reported directly to the Commander. The report was really big and this time on a much larger scale than last time.

The finding shocked Commander Stryker because the raptor had found a planet that once had life on it; with cities, towns, and everything destroyed on the surface. In orbit was the wreckage of hundreds and hundreds of ships, some similar to that founded earlier and some different. There were also a few large wrecks, probably from shipyards and defense bases.

The raptor crew also reported some kind of activity there, a probe of some kind that patrolled in the area. They didn't want to get too close to it to keep from being detected.

After reading the reports, Commander Stryker met with several of his highest ranking officers in the fleet.

Commander Stryker and Colonel Haller from Atlantis, Commander Krasner from Invictus, Commander Mark Peterson from Sword, Commander Richard Neros from Pleiades, Commander Arina Shak from Caduceus, Commander Anthony Thompson from Argona, and a few more officers from the Gunstars. Dr. Aren was present as well.

"Ladies and gentlemen," Commander Stryker started to say while he showed a slide show of the photos that were made by the raptor that found the planet.

"An hour ago, one of our scout raptors found this planet in sector 2A17 Binary. It shows the graveyard of a battle, we presume from approximately the same timeline as the destroyed ship we found before. There are also two or three new kinds of ships present that were destroyed in a battle. The cities on the surface were bombed with some kind of particle beams with enough strength to decimate the entire city. There's no proof of nuclear weapon use. The raptor crew also said that they intercepted what they believed was a drone of some kind patrolling the area. They were forced to retreat before the drone got to their position. I know that many of you are interested in exploring the ruins up close, but until we find out more about that drone and what actually happened here, we cannot proceed. After all, our job, our mission is not to investigate old ruins from dead civilizations. Our mission is to establish a new colony. However, since we don't know much about this part of space, any intelligence can help us. That's why I appointed Major Curtis and his ship Onyx to investigate the planet and the wrecks," Commander Stryker said.

"My ship is ready, sir," Major Curtis, the tall blond man, said. Major Curtis was often called weirdo because of his weird hair style, but he was one of the best tacticians in the fleet.

"Good, you depart in 30 minutes Major. I expect a full report when you get back. The rest of the fleet will continue on our route. And one more thing, Colonel Haller has there been any more of those strange blips?" Commander Stryker asked.

"No sir, in the last 24 hours we have not noticed anything new," Colonel Haller replied.

"Good," Commander Stryker said.

30 Minutes later the Gunstar Onyx jumped to the unknown planet, while the fleet continued with its course.

**Heavy Gunstar Onyx C.I.C.**

"Jump completed sir," navigation officer Markson said, "all systems working normally."

"Good," Major Curtis replied, "deploy our scout team to the surface by raptors."

"Dr. Aren is already on board one of them sir," Lieutenant O'Higgins said.

"Well after all, he is the main scientist of the fleet," Major Curtis replied, "if anyone can dig and find something it's him."

"That's for sure," Lieutenant O'Higgins said, nodding.

"I want a full scan of the area," Major Curtis said, "and keep watching for that drone the Raptor reported seeing."

"Yes sir," the sensor officer Tyler replied.

**Cylon Space, Cylon Homeworld**

In a large spherical room, Cavil looked over information that his spies in the Colonies had gathered. Two men entered the room, a number four known as Simon O'Neil, and a number five Aaron Doral.

"Our preparations are coming along well," Doral said, "in the next sixteen months we will be ready for our mission."

"Sixteen months? Why so long, what is the delay?" Cavil asked unhappily.

"Right now we have almost 125 baseships, 150 support ships and patrol ships, but half of our current fleet still only has minimal armament. Also, there aren't enough missiles to supply the full fleet once it is ready," Simon replied.

"What! Why, what's your brother doing?" Cavil said watching Doral.

"They found a critical error in our missile systems as well as in the missiles; he is working to fix that and all the new specifications. He is also not happy with the nuclear missiles, he believes that a few more tests are needed before he can say everything's ready," Doral said.

"Now he's giving orders?" Cavil replied angrily, "he said that everything would be ready after Leobens screw up a month ago."

"Yes, but he didn't say when," Doral said, "at least a few dozen tests are required. And in sixteen months we will have almost 250 baseships, if not even more, plus 200 support and patrol ships. The entire force will be fueled and armed in that time, and then we can proceed with our plan. And one more thing, he fixed the problem that Leoben had, but this is different."

"Fine, we can take the Colonial Fleet with half of that number!" Cavil said.

"If the reports are true, maybe we can, and maybe we cannot. From our latest information, there's at least 35% of the colonial fleets ships that are without the new CNP and are still on their old CNP versions, and some of them are very powerful units. If we proceed now, we could jeopardize the entire mission," Simon said.

"Alright, we will wait, but if your brother comes and says that he needs more time to finish, I will personally order him to be boxed," Cavil said and continued, "Did Kathy find any information about this colonial Phantom Fleet?"

"Yes she found something, but not enough of any importance to give us more of a clue about these secret colonial operations," Doral said.

"Tell her to keep looking, we must find out what the colonials are up to. Maybe they are planning an attack on us? I would not be surprised if Torres and Nagala are behind this, who else would be foolish enough to go against Adar's orders," Cavil said.

**Gunstar Onyx C.I.C.**

"Dr. Aren and his team have been on the ground for four hours now, and they still haven't found anything?" Major Curtis asked.

"No sir, they are still looking, but for now nothing useful has been found, and more importantly there are no bodies," Ensign Corrine reported.

Curtis didn't like this, except for the destruction here and in space there was nothing useful that could tell them what had really happened here.

"Alright, tell our team," Major Curtis started to say, but was interrupted when a dradis officer yelled "Incoming boogie, sector 12H starboard!"

"What the hell?" Major Curtis asked.

"Sir, I'm picking up an energy spike, it's preparing to fire," the dradis officer said.

"How the hell did we not we pick it up on dradis?" Major Curtis asked.

"Too many wrecks sir, they can mask anything," the dradis officer replied.

"Point Defense guns to automatic, prepare to salvo fire the main guns," Major Curtis said.

A drone that had not been seen until it was on top of the ship now started firing on the Gunstar with some kind of blue energy pulses, but the weapon was simply too small and ineffective against the heavy armor that the Onyx had. It was of unknown origin and very simple in design.

"Fire, destroy it now," Major Curtis said, and the weapon officer complied.

Defensive guns started firing; it took only one full volley to intercept and destroy the enemy drone.

"Sir, I'm picking up more contacts," the dradis officer reported.

"How many?" Major Curtis asked.

"12, no 15, no 23, oh hell, 65, 65 in total sir," the dradis officer said going pale.

"Comms, send a message to our teams; I want them on the raptors and to jump to the emergency coordinates ASAP," Major Curtis said, "all defensive guns prepare to fire."

The drones started moving faster and faster, closing the distance between them and the Onyx. When they came within 3km from ship, the ships defensive batteries opened fire. It was a magnificent sight as the white lights travelled at high speed towards the drones. Onyx's barrage hit and destroyed several of them, but the rest kept coming.

"Sir, more drones are showing up, over 100 new contacts," the dradis officer said.

"Frak, what is the status with our teams?" Major Curtis asked.

"The first bird is away, and the second bird is still on the ground. Dr. Aron and two of his assistants are still on the ground," Lieutenant O'Higgins replied.

Time passed slowly; minute after minute, more and more drones showed up on dradis. The defense grid destroyed over 40, but some managed to get through and fire on the ship. One or two drones couldn't damage a ship the size of the Onyx, but over 45 buzzing around and hitting in packs could do pretty nasty damage.

"Sir, Deck section 1-5 damaged, sections 5-6 losing atmosphere, and one of our guns is got knocked offline - thankfully not destroyed. I don't know how much longer we can take this kind of punishment," Lieutenant O'Higgins said.

"What is the status of our last Raptor?" Major Curtis asked.

"Sir the second raptor's approaching, but a few drones have turned their attention to it and it's damaged," the communications officer reported.

"Helm, ahead two thirds, course 117 karem 23, let's get closer to our bird," Major Curtis said.

"Yes sir!" the helm officer replied.

Onyx started moving faster and faster in the direction of the raptor. The raptor pilot realized what Onyx was doing and cut the power to the engines and rolled the ship into the direct path of the Onyx. The hangar deck was open, and when the Raptor landed the Onyx jumped away.

It took several hours before the Onyx rejoined fleet as they repaired their damage enough to jump to the fleet's coordinates.

**Atlantis Flag Suite**

"Well Major, you had an extreme adventure," Commander Stryker stated.

"I would not call it an adventure sir; luckily there were no casualties and only a few injuries, with nothing serious," Major Curtis said.

"I hope Dr. Aren found something of interest down there to make the hell that the Onyx went through worth it," Commander Stryker said.

"He did find a few things, but it will take weeks, maybe months to go through it all," Major Curtis said.

"What's the condition of the Onyx?" Commander Stryker asked.

"It received several good hits sir, and it will need some repairs on the forward section and its damaged guns," Major Curtis said.

"Right then, get back to the Onyx and get into the Dry dock with Invictus as soon as you can, I want Onyx back to 100% as soon as possible," Commander Stryker said.

"Yes sir," Major Curtis said saluting the commander and then leaving the room. Commander Stryker had a lot on his mind; first the derelict ship, now an entire graveyard in orbit of an unknown planet with destroyed cities containing no remains left, and then those phantom drones. What the hell is happening here? It was a question he didn't know how to answer. This mission was starting to become more and more interesting, not to mention dangerous.


	4. 1x04 Avalon

**Avalon**

**Commanders Log 333**

_It's been a little over nine months since we discovered the graveyard around the now dead planet that was once so full of life and a home to an unknown civilization. After the Gunstar Onyx battled with some kind of automated defense drones, possibly part of an old defensive system, there have been no new engagements. We proceeded as planned with the route that our scouting probe mapped, with no real pit stops so we did not risk running into more drones like the Onyx found._

_There were a few additional wrecks on the way similar to those that we found before. We are now two jumps from our final destination, a planet similar in size of Caprica that is capable of sustaining human life. The Gunstar Onyx has been fully repaired, and the engineers on the Invictus have created a new type of alloy that they called of all names "super ablative armor" because it is similar to the ablative armor we found on the first wrecked ship. The Gunstar Onyx has been upgraded with it. Once completed and we arrive on our target world; we will upgrade all the other Gunstars with it, but the Battlestars will stay on their current configuration for now._

_Kathy Morales, the Atlantis CAG, reported that all ship squadrons had perfect scores in practice simulations and in real training flights. I never have doubt in her and her squadrons; she is the best damn pilot in the Colonial Navy. Well with the exception of Lieutenant Kara "Starbuck" Thrace.  
>I sent a full and detailed report back to the colonies about our findings and everything we had on our journey. End Log.<em>

**Atlantis Flag Suite**

Commander Stryker was just finishing his log when he heard a knock on the door.

"Come in," Commander Stryker said.

The doors opened and Colonel Haller and Dr. Aren entered the room.

"How can I help you gentlemen?" Commander Stryker asked.

"Well sir, I think we may have found something; a data pad or data disk of some kind. It's a log, a history written by someone from the destroyed civilization we found. Even more interesting; it was written in ancient Kobolian dialect," Dr. Aren said.

"That sounds interesting," Commander Stryker said.

"It is. It gives us at least some proof that the planet we found was once settled by humans or even the gods themselves," Dr. Aren said.

"It took some time, but we managed to find more, at least about their enemies. It's written like a legend," Dr. Aren said, and read off the log: "Millions of years ago, in a time when the gods were mortals like us, and in a time when they started walking between the stars, the gods discovered that they were not alone in the universe. They found a trace of a race even older than they were, and they were in a massive battle with an unknown enemy. This enemy came from the darkness of cold space, from the edge of the galaxy, and possibly even the edge of the universe itself. The Gods observed this great ancient conflict and saw that the old race was losing, that they were falling one star after another. Finally, the old race found the gods themselves and both the gods and the old race fought the darkness. The Gods helped invent sentient machines and created them in the image of themselves. The machines fought the darkness, and they won. They didn't destroy the darkness, but they sealed it in the center of our galaxy for all eternity. But something unexpected happen; a plague, a virus, spread through the machines, and the machines turned on their masters. First the old ancient race fell and then the machines, poisoned by the darkness, turned their eyes on the Gods. The Gods fought valiantly and they succeeded in destroying most of them, but many escaped and vanish between the stars. Millions of years later, the Gods evolved into creatures of pure light, and found a brutal and savage race on a planet on the edge of the galaxy. They landed between those primitive barbarian races, and started choosing the best of them. The best were then taken to the world which was later called Kobol, and the race of primitive savages became known as humans. Centuries passed, and humans evolved; becoming more civilized, but even more destructive. Humans organized themselves into tribes, and these tribes often fought in wars with each other, while also forging alliances against other tribes.

The Gods saw that humans were not perfect, that it was in their genes to be aggressive, warlike, and that they would never have peace between them. So the Gods started making copies, their own versions of humans. But the other tribes didn't like them; they were smarter, stronger, and better organized. They were cast out to the island where they lived isolated for many years, but over those years many others came to the island - mostly those that were outcasts and not wanted in the other tribes.

Four thousand years before the great exodus from Kobol one of the strongest and most silent tribes left Kobol with the blessing of the Gods. Our ancestors were not the last that left Kobol though; two thousand years later a second tribe left Kobol to the Promised Land, a planet they called Earth. On the way they split; those that were intelligent and smart continued on their way to Earth, and those that had come from other tribes found themselves on a planet that they called Terra where they created a great but brutal empire.

For a few hundred years, a war raged across the world of Kobol. Eventually, it resulted in the total exodus of the remaining twelve tribes off the surface of Kobol.

The twelve tribes all went in the same direction. They found a system with three stars and twelve habitable planets that could support human life. It was revealed to us by the goddess Athena that Hades, Hephaestus, and Poseidon had terraformed those worlds for the remaining tribes knowing that one day they would evolve and rise to become one force, and one nation united. Zeus gave names to the tribes that they would carry proudly; Aerilon, Aquaria, Canceron, Caprica, Gemenon, Leonis, Libran, Picon, Sagittaron, Scorpia, Tauron and Virgon. And the Gods appointed us Atlantian's to protect those young new colonies, to keep them safe until they evolved.

One day, the gods disappeared without a trace. A planet that they used for their own purposes was gone, and only an asteroid belt remained. There we found them, the ancient enemy had returned, stronger and angry for what our gods did to them long ago. It didn't take long before they found us. They started destroying our colonies one by one, defeating our ships with their advanced weaponry. With time we adapted, but this was not enough to defeat them. In a great battle over Atlantis itself our remaining fleet clashed with them, and both fleets annihilated each other. Small pockets of the enemy survived, they followed us here on Themis and they destroyed us. Many survivors succeeded in escaping to a new place that they would call their home. I hope they survive, I hope someone finds this log, and finds out what has happened. It was necessary to tell the entire story to understand, I hope, I can only hope..."

"It sounds like a nice story," Colonel Haller said.

"Colonel this is not a story, this is what happened years ago, and everything is put into this small log," Dr. Aren replied.

"Still it seems familiar, Gods or a race that we think are our Gods created machines to help in a fight against some other race, and after the victory the machines turned on the Gods. After many years they wiped them out entirely. Sound familiar to you doc?" Commander Stryker asked.

"I see your point. So I take it you believe that the Cylons will return, as Admirals Torres and Nagala think?" Dr. Aren asked.

"It's logical, and I know that there were old scrolls from the pre-unification era. In fact each of the colonies has a legend of an ancient enemy fighting the gods. Torres and Nagala must have given these scrolls detailed research, and they believe that the Cylons will return. The story might be true, but it doesn't need to be. We have our mission doctor, and I don't have time for fairytales. I didn't say that this isn't interesting, but until we find more evidence I cannot believe that this stuff is actually real. No matter what is written on the log," Commander Stryker said.

**A Few Days Later**

**6 and a half months before the fall of the colonies**

A planet like Caprica, full of life, stood in space alone with two small moons around it when suddenly a fleet of ships jumped in.

**30 minutes later**

**Battlestar Atlantis C.I.C.**

"Jump completed, we are at our targeted destination sir," Colonel Haller said happily.

"Open a channel to the fleet," Commander Stryker said.

"Open sir," the communications officer said.

"This is Commander Stryker from Atlantis. After a long 11 months of travel, we have finally come to our goal; the planet where we will settle, and make our colony. A planet that will become a beacon in the darkness and our home for a long time. I salute each and every one of you for a job well done, thank you!" Commander Stryker said.

"What will we call the planet?" Colonel Haller asked.

"It will be called…. Avalon," Commander Stryker said smiling.

"Avalon sir?" Colonel Haller asked.

"Yes Colonel, it was a mythical land from Picon legend, if memory serves," Commander Stryker replied.

"I see," Colonel Haller said.

"Colonel, please set up and launch a scouting party to the planet. I want a suitable place for the first settlement on Avalon," Commander Stryker said.

**2 weeks Later**

**Surface of Avalon – Location of New Caprican first settlement**

In the first fourteen days since the expedition arrived at Avalon, the scouting parties visited several places on the planet. The chosen site for the settlement was on one of the largest continents for the first city; it was surrounded by mountains and forests, and was relatively flat, so it was the perfect place for a town. Already construction machines and equipment were down on the ground, working on creating homes and buildings and making very good progress. It was at first believed that it would take months of ground work before the first solid buildings were ready to be built, so it was a real surprise to see so much work already completed. Colonial Command quickly appointed a governor to the new colony. Miral Skhan, the former governor of the Hera colony near Virgon, was appointed as the first governor of Avalon.

**5 Months Later**

**Commander Stryker's Log 503**

_Five months have passed since the groundwork began on creating the first city for our colonists on our new home, Avalon. Thanks to the automated equipment Admiral Nagala saw to being brought along with the fleet, construction has gone along smoothly and quite quickly. The city has been completed enough for our thousands of colonists to start setting up inside their homes, and construction was started on basic structures the city will need such as a fire and police departments, a hospital, a marine base at the edge of the settlement to provide our marines a ground base of operations, and several other important structures. The city is planned to be expanded to able to contain 50,000 people by the time we return from the colonies with more colonists. Completion of the marine base was insisted upon by General David Lee, who was brought from the colonies aboard Argona along with a few hundred marines as instructed by Admiral Nagala personally, in order to build a base of operations for his startup force of marines for planetside security. A set of raptor and viper bases to land and refuel ground based squadrons is also being put under construction, which should be completed within a few months. Invictus will supply the military bases with the necessary equipment to construct them and will supply them in the future with necessary equipment for to manage and upkeep the bases. Additionally, Invictus will supply the bases with vipers and raptor squadrons once they are completed. I'm told the bases should be able to launch over a thousand vipers and several hundred raptors once completed and supplied; though we'll need to bring back pilots on our return trip to the colonies to have enough pilots to fully man the squadrons. In a few weeks Atlantis, Pleiades, and Argona will be returning to the colonies as planned. End Log._

**30 days before the fall of the twelve colonies**

**Red Horse Nebula – Olympia station**

**Olympia station observatories deck**

"Admiral Thorn, the reports you asked for are here, and everything is going as planned," Commander Corgon said.

"Good, let's start with it shall we; project Eternity, what's the status of it?" Admiral Thorn asked.

"Both the Eternity and Unity shipyards have been completed sir. Each shipyard is capable of housing two Andraste class Warstars in its main shipyard enclosure ports. They each have six piers that can hold two bigger (Mercury / Nova) and four smaller (Galactica / Valkyrie) Battlestars, and then there are the lower piers which can hold at least 30 to 40 Gunstars depending on their size.

Each shipyard has over 25,000 people aboard, but since it is mostly automated they can work with even a fourth of that number. There are large spare parts shops, ammo factories, fighter, bomber and raptor repair and production facilities, and large storage tanks for water and fuel. There is also a Tylium refinery to refine Tylium into E-85 Liquid Tylium which as you know is 250% more efficient than regular Tylium. Every shipyard has over 500 Vipers plus 220 Python bombers on board, with 200 raptors, and several dozen tankers and over a 100 shuttles of all types," Commander Corgon reported.

"Good, continue," Admiral Thorn replied.

"The Shipyards are extremely well armored, to be almost impenetrable. There are over 400 MKEV cannons, and 120 HKEV cannons. There are also 1,500 silos full with Anti-ship and Anti-Missile Missiles and 150 special nuclear silos. The Point defenses are the closest we can make them to be impenetrable, with over 10,000 point defense guns. It is a fortress in every way sir," Commander Corgon reported proudly.

"The Engines are top of the class. There are two blocks of Titan Mk I class engines that are mounted together giving enough power to move the station at a moderate speed. And the power plant is composed of 8 prime energizers and 16 secondary energizers on each station giving enough power for all the weapons to work at the same time, while maneuvering. The only limitation is that she cannot maneuver and can only fire 75% of her weapons when they charge the three FTL engines to jump the station," Commander Corgon finished.

"My god," Admiral Thorn said shocked, "I think that Torres and Nagala will like this very much!"

"Well sir, it cost as much as three years of the military's budget to build these two stations. Luckily the credits came from mostly our civilian sector and private companies under our command," Commander Corgon said.

"Next?" Admiral Thorn asked, eagerly wanting to know what else Corgon had for him.

"Well sir, we also have 8 new Titan II class Heavy Gunstars. That's four for each shipyard, as well as two old Columbia Type II Battlestars we rescued and refitted from the inactive shipyards. And finally the Theseus project, which will be ready in a week I think," Commander Corgon said.

"Refresh my memory, the Theseus project?" Admiral Thorn asked.

"It was directed by Admirals Nagala and Richardson. It's a heavily upgraded version of a Nova class Command Battlestar, with an advanced version of the point defense guns "interceptors" and new laser guns that we've been developing for some years. The guns are mounted in front of the ship in a stationary position, since it would require a really big turret for them. The ship will have the most advanced armor ever developed by the Colonial Navy, and lots of nasty guns," Commander Corgon replied.

"An oversized and overpowered Nova, nothing more?" Admiral Thorn asked with disappointment in his voice.

"Sorry sir, but those mobile shipyards eat almost 90% of our ready resources, plus rearming several other older Battlestars. Then you add those new Gunstars into service and an additional 10 under construction. It cost a lot," Commander Corgon said sadly.

"Yes, and it will cost us even more if President Adar finds out," Admiral Thorn said, "Do you know how bad it will be, that almost the entire Command staff worked behind the back of the President? We are spending enormous amounts of money on secret projects. It's already a lot with the Copernicus colony, and the even more from the secret Prometheus and Atlantis expeditions. I just hope that all this will prove useful and that we will have a good explanation if this is to go public."

"Yes sir," Commander Corgon said in agreement.

**30 days before the fall**

**Cylon Space, Cylon Homeworld**

John Cavil sat in a chair in the main command room onboard the Command Basestar known as Basestar 01. Leoben, Doral, and Simon entered the room.

"The problems we've been facing have been fixed, and production on the weapons for all our basestars and specifically high yield nukes to hit the colones should be completed soon. We should be finished as planned within a month," Doral said.

"Really, this time for real, oh I am so happy," Cavil said mockingly thinking angrily about all the delays to the attack on the colonies.

"As I promised, all will be ready in a month," Doral said unamused.

"Good, I can't wait to finally start this and to finally get rid of those humans," Cavil said with a trace of joy in his voice.

"I am still against this," Leoben said, "by killing them we will accomplish do nothing, and in doing so we will become them."

"Oh you would like them to attack us instead wouldn't you?" Cavil asked sarcastically.

"The humans would never attack us, it's been 40 years and they have never attacked," Leoben said trying to defend himself and humanity.

"Really and why was the Battlestar Valkyrie looking around the border not too long ago? There is also the question as to why they launched a stealth fighter into our territory, or was that simply curiosity?" Cavil said.

"I don't know, but that was not the reason," Leoben replied.

"You sound like Kathy, we gave humanity a chance all these years to see if they would improve themselves, become better or more civilized, but they didn't. They are the same savages as they were before. Murderers, torturers, rapists, and they are not better than animals. Except animals do what they do because it's plugged into their genes in order to survive, whereas humans do everything for their own pleasure. They don't deserve to live, and they will continue to be a huge threat to us as long as we allow them to remain, especially with people like Nagala and Torres," Simon said.

"And you think that even with all this military might, we will not defeat them?" Leoben asked.

"Yes, yes we will crush them like bugs, and what is important is that they will not even know that it is coming," Cavil said.

"One day your stupid arrogance, no the arrogance of all of you, will cost us, and we will deeply pay for what we have done," Leoben said and left the room.

"Yes, we will pay alright," Cavil replied with a smile.


	5. 1x05 Sanctuary

**Sanctuary**

**22 days before the fall**

**Avalon, First City Under Construction**

Miral Skhan, Commander Stryker, and Commander Krasner walked between the digging equipment and made plans that Commander Krasner would give to the engineers.

"Commander Stryker, I must say that the hyper data link that we installed in our buoys works perfectly. Instead of 30 days, it's averaging around 5 to 10 hours to receive and send information between us and colonial command," Commander Krasner said.

"Yes, I know. I've already sent a message with all the details from the last month, as well a report on the colonization process, plans, and everything else," Commander Stryker replied.

"Commander, if I may ask, when are Atlantis and her escorts scheduled to return home?" Governor Miral asked.

"Atlantis and Pleiades are ready. We will need a few days to remove the docks from Argona's flight pods; once we transfer the docks to Invictus, all three ships will head home. Do not worry governor; with a mobile dock like Invictus, Battlestar Sword, and all the Gunstars, you will have adequate protection until the orbital defenses are online," Commander Stryker replied.

"Sir, I believe that some of the Gunstars will also be in the fleet that is returning home?" Commander Krasner asked.

"No, they will stay behind, because this is an opportunity to use our engines at 120% capacity. Instead of 11 months, it should take us 2 months at top speed to reach the colonies," Commander Stryker said.

"You are aware sir, that those modifications on our engines have never been tested. The ship could blow up when we try to jump or it could jump to the wrong place. Those modifications were made on the engines used by the Sanctuary Heavy Warstar, and look what happened: she disappeared," Commander Krasner said disapprovingly.

"We are aware of the risk, but this is an excellent opportunity to test them. Besides; new security measures were added, and the ships will be flying in V formation with the leading ship giving information to the remaining two ships. In short, all the ships have their targeted jump coordinates handed by the lead ship with the best Navigation systems for the most accurate jumps, so there is no chance that anything will go wrong," Commander Stryker said.

"To add to Admiral Nagala's orders; Governor Miral is in charge of the civilians, and Commander you are in charge of the military while I am gone, or until someone else come to replace me, is that clear?" Commander Stryker asked.

"Yes sir, but with Sword preparing for an engine upgrade on Invictus and the Gunstars; Illiad, Novalis and Fortune in for upgrades, it leaves only Cygnus and Onyx to protect the colony," Commander Krasner said worriedly.

"Yes, but even with only those two Gunstars you have a fully functional mobile dock capable of defending itself, and for god's sake you will not be tearing apart those ships, they are only being upgraded. Their weapons and defenses are still active enough to be useful in an emergency. Now, I've sent several raptors to scout around to see what we have in our neighborhood. They will start to return soon, and I don't want to miss their reports," Commander Stryker said and started moving toward the Raptor that was nearby waiting for him.

"Damn, I don't like this, only two active ships and the rest down for upgrades," Commander Krasner said unhappily.

"We will be fine Commander, relax, I trust Commander Stryker. He is a capable officer and he knows what he is doing, and so do you so just relax. Your job is relatively simple; my job on the other hand is not. Managing the civilian colonists to work on the first city and work on other structures on Avalon will require a lot of effort," Governor Miral replied smiling.

**21 days before the fall**

**Atlantis C.I.C.**

"Commander on deck," the marine guard said when Commander Stryker entered C.I.C.

"At ease," Commander Stryker said, "so Colonel, you said that you have something very important to report?"

"Sir, I think you need to see this for yourself," Colonel Haller replied and showed several photos on the nearest screen.

At first the Commander didn't react, because he didn't see anything, but then, he moved out from the table and said, "Lords of Kobol, is that?"

"Yes sir, it's the Sanctuary. I saw her at the Scorpion shipyards before she was completed. I also sent half a dozen raptors to make a full investigation," Colonel Haller said.

"She looks damaged?" Commander Stryker asked incredulously, wondering what could've possibly damaged the Sanctuary given its weaponry and remote location.

"Yes sir, but that is not all. Looking around, you can see several other wrecks are there as well. They are similar in size to those wrecks we saw in orbit around the dead world we found. They are in a different configuration, but the same color, a dark bluish grey," Colonel Haller said.

"Did the raptor find any life signs on board?" Commander Stryker asked.

"No sir, however, their scanners said that there are organic materials on board, dead, but there. I'm guessing the remains of the crew?" Colonel Haller stated.

"Send the Onyx with a full wing of Raptors. I want that ship to be checked from bow to stern is that understood? I want answers. She looks like she ran into hell," Commander Stryker said.

"You plan to salvage her sir?" Colonel Haller asked.

"If possible, yes," Commander Stryker said, needing to search for answers as to what happened to this ship, "I want this information included in the next report to Colonial Command."

"It will be done sir," Colonel Haller said.

**System HA-110 (Pyros)**

Several flashes appeared; one bigger and several smaller. The Gunstar Onyx and raptors jumped exactly on top of Sanctuary.

**Gunstar Onyx C.I.C.**

"Gods, it's huge!" Lieutenant O'Higgins exclaimed.

"She is one of the biggest ships in the colonies, at almost 4.2km in length; she was supposed to be the main command ship for the entire fleet. Atlantia would have served only as a support command ship. But after her disappearance, she became the biggest and most expensive failure in colonial history. Of course, Fleet Command was blamed because they insisted that the ship be built," Major Curtis explained.

"How many people were on board?" Lieutenant O'Higgins asked.

"I think it was around 10,000 between the crew, civilian contractors, and the press teams. It was a disaster, but here she is lying filled with holes," Major Curtis said.

"She doesn't look too badly damaged sir; we might be able to recover her," Lieutenant O'Higgins said confidently.

For several hours, many teams explored the massive ship; finding bodies everywhere, and parts of the ship that were open to space. After a detailed analysis, it was found that the ship was still functional, just barely, with a majority of the atmosphere gone. There was heavy damage to the engines, but not critical enough damage to require completely new engines. The body count had risen to a total of 3,500 found dead.

"Sir, there are several things you should know. First, the weaponry is similar to that of the drones that attacked us near Bynar, similar but much stronger. Also, the other wrecks are similar to some of those found in orbit, presuming this is the same enemy that destroyed those Atlantian's. The configuration is slightly different, but the markings we found and the color are almost the same. Second, only 3,500 of the crew have been found, all dead, so the other 6,500 are missing. Third, and maybe some good news I think, the raptor that scouted around pick up some kind of emergency transmitter though it is very weak," Lieutenant O'Higgins said.

"Where?" Major Curtis asked.

"The nearest planet, sir, it was hidden behind a gas giant it's orbiting. It's a small rocky planet. Barely habitable, but it is covered with deserts," Lieutenant O'Higgins said.

"You mean that some of the crew might have survived, and they might be on that planet in hiding?" Major Curtis asked.

"It's possible. We also found that some smaller parts of the ship are missing, not destroyed. There is the possibility that the survivors of the fight, escaped with shuttles and raptors, and later came back and took materials needed for their survival. Team 7 also reported that the sick bay is completely empty. All the useful materials; from operations inventory, to the medicals supplies are gone," Lieutenant O'Higgins said.

"Send Raptors 71 and 72 to check it out, also I want several vipers to escort them. I want other Raptors not assigned to Sanctuary to be out scouting and scanning. I don't want anything to take us by surprise," Major Curtis said.

"Yes sir!" Lieutenant O'Higgins said.

"Communications, send a message to Atlantis telling them that we believe that there is a possibility of survivors, and we need more ships," Major Curtis said.

"Yes sir!" the communications officer replied.

25 minutes later Argona and Atlantis jumped to the same coordinates that Onyx jumped to before. With one third of the engines power, both ships started approaching slowly.

**Planet Codenamed 'Pyros'**

**Raptor 72**

"Nothing on scanners, but the scanners are having a hard time working through this damn atmosphere and the clouds," Lieutenant Mark "Fuzz" Fuzzner said.

"Well, let's get closer to the ground shall we?" Lieutenant Artie Morales, brother of Kathy Morales the CAG of the Atlantis Viper squadrons, proposed.

A few more minutes passed before Morales yelled…"I see something here, and it looks like structures!"

"Let's head on down?" Lieutenant Fuzner asked.

It took almost 10 minutes before the raptors landed on what appeared to be a platform built from Sanctuary's parts.

Both raptor teams exited. Fourteen team members in all exited from the raptors and started exploring around in the hopes that they would find survivors from Sanctuary.

"FRACK Fuzz, I can't see anything in this sand storm," Lieutenant Morales said.

"Keep looking," Lieutenant Fuzner said, but it didn't take long before the team realized that they were surrounded.

A tall man appeared from nowhere.

"You are humans? Colonials?" the man asked.

"Yes, we are from the Battlestar Atlantis, and you are?" Lieutenant Fuzner replied.

"Never heard of that ship, my name is Alex Croton, I was a sergeant on the Heavy Warstar Sanctuary," the man stated.

"Of course not sergeant, it's brand new," Lieutenant Fuzner said, grinning.

"Come with us, the Executive Officer Colonel Coven will be happy to see you guys, follow me," Seargant Alex Croton said.

Five minutes later Fuzner, Morales, and their teams entered what appeared to be a large underground chamber. Another man got in their way.

"My name is Irv Coven, the XO of the Heavy Warstar Sanctuary. Sergeant Croton says that you are from the Battlestar Atlantis?" the man asked.

"Yes sir, we are," Lieutenant Fuzner said.

"And you came to rescue us, so how in the hell did you find us?" Colonel Coven asked.

More and more people started coming and surrounding the Atlantis team. Most were military personal, but there were also a lot of civilians who were assigned to the Sanctuary at the time of her launching.

"Not exactly sir, we were sent in this area to establish a colony. It was, shall we say, luck that helped us find you. One of our raptors found Sanctuary lying near the asteroid belt in this system. Commander Stryker ordered all ships to explore the system and find out what happened here," Lieutenant Fuzner explained.

"Well a lot happened, a lot for sure, so if it is not a problem Lieutenant I would like to talk with Commander Stryker, I think he will find our story very interesting," Colonel Coven said.

"Of course sir," Lieutenant Fuzner said.

One hour later, Raptor 72 carrying Colonel Coven and Sergeant Croton entered the docking bay of Atlantis.

"I forgot how good it was to be on a ship," Sergeant Croton said, "This looks like a Mercury class ship, but somehow it's different?"

"It is a Mercury block II class Battlestar. It's the only one of its kind for now; with stronger weaponry, better armor, more missile launchers, and in many ways it's more advanced than the older Mercury class," Fuzner replied, "this way please."

Commander Stryker was busy with a written report that would be sent through the hyper link, the first test of the new faster than light communication, when he heard a knock on the door.

"Enter," Commander Stryker said.

Two men entered the room.

"Please be seated gentlemen," Commander Stryker said.

"Thank you sir," Colonel Coven said, "we never thought that we would be saved, or at least we didn't think we'd see any other colonial ship in this area for some time to come."

"Well as you were told, you were found only by luck Colonel. To be honest, you and your ship are the last thing that I would have believed that we would find out here. After Sanctuary disappeared, nobody even considered a rescue mission, when nobody knew where you were," Commander Stryker said.

"That is understandable sir, but I don't understand what brought colonial command to establish a colony out here so far from home?" Colonel Coven asked.

"Possible Cylon threat Colonel; for years now, command has believed that a Cylon attack is imminent. And each year that passed without it, we lost support within the political structures. But more importantly Colonel, what the hell happened to Sanctuary, and why is your ship is surrounded by so many unknown and destroyed types of ships?" Commander Stryker asked.

"It's a long story sir, and very complicated. As you know Sanctuary had an experimental drive. Now that I think about it, they said that we had 2 pairs of Andraste warstar class engines and a pair of Nova class engines, but that is not even close to the truth sir. It was a total secret. We had the first ever built antimatter reactor created by human hands sir," Colonel Coven said.

"Antimatter reactors? The R&D section said that it would take decades if not even centuries to crack that field of technology, the only thing they have so far is fusion reactors," Commander Stryker said, going completely pale at the thought of such technology in use, which had utterly failed considering what happened to the Sanctuary.

"Yes sir, fusion reactors, or more accurately fusion energizers; which are ten times better and stronger than the standard energizers used on colonial ships. Except this new technology was not yet tested, not even experimented with. You see the scientists on board believed that there would be two possibilities, it would work or it would not work. No explosions or anything so crazy, at least not in their opinion. But it did not go as planned. Half of those that were on board at that time are dead now. Their own reactor killed them..." Colonel Coven said.

**Almost 3 years ago**

**Picon HQ station in orbit of Picon -**

**Heavy Warstar Sanctuary C.I.C.**

In C.I.C. many civilian technicians gathered together; scientists and a command staff led by experienced Commander Roland Nimara stood in the center of the large C.I.C.

"All sections report," Commander Roland Nimara said.

"Com – ready, dradis - ready, navigation – ready, engine room - ready. Weapons not ready 100% sir, most of them not installed yet," Colonel Coven said rolling his eyes at the thought of going out without the weapons even installed.

"Very disappointing of our techies in the shipyards, they completed the ship but did not give her teeth yet," Commander Nimara said with a raised eyebrow.

"Sanctuary still has a lot of power to show off sir," Colonel Coven said.

"True, so let's start this show, helm one third forward," Commander Nimara said.

"One third aye sir," the helm officer replied.

Sanctuary is a magnificent beast, bigger than any ship in the fleet, matching in size only with Picon HQ station. It took almost 7 minutes before the ship was clear enough to commence a jump, on each side a Valkyrie class Battlestar took part in the formation with this mighty ship as an honor guard for the maiden voyage.

"All sections green, we are ready to go sir," Colonel Coven said.

"Start the countdown, all hands brace for jump," Commander Nimara said.

"5, 4, 3, 2, 1, jump," Colonel Coven said.

In moments, two flashes from the sides of the Sanctuary and the escorting battlestars disappeared. But onboard the Sanctuary everything starting shaking violently, then seconds later in a flash and the ship disappeared.

**Present Day**

"But it did not go over as well as we thought it would, the entire ship was shaken to the core, almost to the point that we believed it would tear itself apart. Soon after the jump, an explosion rocked the ship from the engine room. We were too busy to see that we didn't jump to the coordinates where the other two ships jumped. We didn't know that we weren't even in colonial space anymore. Flames were everywhere in the engine room, and most of the staff there, including the main engineer, died," Colonel Coven said sadly, remembering the details he recounted vividly.

"I recall that the Battlestar Yashuman reported to Picon HQ that they jumped directly to the coordinates, but they didn't find you there," Commander Stryker said interrupting.

"We didn't know at the time it happened, but later one of the scientists believed that the Antimatter reactor was not calibrated correctly and that some kind of anomaly triggered this kind of long range jump and overloaded the engines. We were lucky, very lucky, that the entire engine block did not explode," Colonel Coven said.

**3 years earlier – Unknown location**

"Damage report," Commander Nimara ordered.

"We have a large explosion in the reactor room, several of the conduits overloaded and exploded; we also lost four of the main and almost all the secondary energizers," Colonel Coven reported.

"Casualties?" Commander Nimara asked.

"From the initial reports that we have so far, nobody survived in the main engine room or the sections close to it. I think we've lost almost 500 people sir, but we can't confirm that yet," Colonel Coven said.

"My gods," Commander Nimara said going pale in shock and horror at what had happened.

**Present day**

"The ship was in fact intact on the surface, but it was in total chaos inside. Several smaller explosions followed, but luckily they didn't do much damage, with only a few wounded.

But from hour to hour our nightmares went from bad to worse. The main air filters that created air on the ship started to fail, and then the ships life support system shut down. All the main systems started losing power because of the loss of so many energizers at the same time. It took a month to fix the primary systems, and to get the ship back to at least 50% operational.

We started sending scouts around, searching for food and water and resources. A fortunate find during one of our scouting missions led us to a system with a large ship near the third planet that we believed was inactive, and we thought it was a wreck, but that cost us very dearly soon after we arrived. We sent two raptors to investigate the wreck, but when the raptors got closer; the ship came to life and launched some type of robotic fighters.

Ship scans by both raptors instigated a response, and as soon as the scan was started the drones opened fired and destroyed the first raptor. The second raptor managed to jump away. The pilot reported what happened, but we had barely five minutes before the same ship reappeared from nowhere in proximity to Sanctuary.

It did the same thing; it scanned the ship and started moving aggressively towards us, no matter that we were three times larger. We managed to activate the defense grid, or at least half of it, and some cannons, though at that time we didn't have the energy to power the main cannons. But we managed to survive the first attack. Our long range cannons opened fire on the unknown ship moments after they opened fire on us. They fired some type of large blue pulses. Since the ship was already badly damaged, most of ship was in a weakened state. So the pulses just ripped through the ship.

We returned fire, and at first the ship did not react on our fire at all, like it had some kind of energy shield around it that we didn't see. But overwhelming fire from our cannons finally tore apart the enemy ship, and our fighters cleaned the space of all enemy drones.

That was only the beginning though, you see commander, just before the destruction of the ship it sent a signal, a type of signal we've never encountered before.

Several smaller attacks occurred during the next two months before finally a larger force jumped directly on top of us. Fearing that Sanctuary could not hold for long, Commander Nimara ordered an evacuation of the ship to the nearby desert planet where you found us. From some parts of the ship, a settlement was created to hold all of us. But with only two thousand people on the planet our unknown nemesis struck again," Colonel Craven said.

**The Past**

"Sir, we have multiple bogies on dradis, I'm reading seven large ones and hundreds of smaller ones," the dradis officer reported.

"Frak, I want all evacuation shuttles and raptors to go into that asteroid belt. They are to remain there until we deal with our dear new friends," Commander Nimara said sarcastically, "I also want all Vipers to be launched."

"Sir many of the launching pads are damaged, only 48 work sir," one of the CIC officers reported.

"Dammit! Launch as many fighters you can, I want them out there as of yesterday!" Commander Nimara ordered loudly, frustrated at the impossible situation his command was facing.

"Commander, my last report was incorrect, we have Seven capital vessels and…over two thousand smaller presumed to be drone fighters," the dradis officer reported.

"Well this is becoming even better now isn't it? Great!" Commander Nimara said.

**The Present**

"It was foolish to say no to Commander Nimara, he didn't want no for an answer, but the battle was finished before it even started. In total 112 fighters were launched. And the fight started with so much brutality, like I have never seen before. Those drones are so lifeless and yet they fight as perfectly as a trained pilot, maybe even better.

Our fighter force was decimated in 30 minutes, while the enemy losses were over 600 fighters. But they just kept coming. The entire fight was almost 4 hours long, and by some miracle the ship stayed in one piece. In the middle of the battle, we got word that there was enough juice for the main cannons, at least for a few shots. It was the first time I've seen their disastrous effect. Each 8 barreled cannons launched so much destruction, that no matter how strong and old those ships were, they simply were not strong enough to survive that kind of punishment. All 7 mother ships were destroyed before the main cannons stopped working again. The enemy got reinforcements again, and this time three ships of a newer, even bigger class that we've never seen before. Fortunately enough time had passed that we evacuated those in the asteroid belt to the planet without alerting the swarm of drones and the enemy capital ships. During this last fight, the ship was punched from all sides, and Commander Nimara died when one of the monitors exploded and fell on him, instantly killing him.

Several seconds later the ship lost power and was starting to lose atmosphere fast. My assumption was that one of the ships scanned Sanctuary before they stopped firing. At that time only 300 people were left alive on board. I believe that the enemy ship saw that the ship was losing atmosphere and that the survivors would die sooner or later without air. So they withdrew.

From the 300, 125 made it to the hangar bay, and all the others died on the way to the hangar. From open areas to space, to the explosions and fires that were running around killing people. Several times we returned for supplies and materials for our small colony there. One other very important thing sir is that the enemy sent several drones each month to scout around the wreck of Sanctuary," Colonel Craven said.

"Do you know when will they next come again Colonel?" Commander Stryker asked.

"10 days sir!" Colonel Craven said.

"Colonel, your people will be transferred to Avalon, on that you have my word. It will be a priority, as will the repairs on the Warstar Sanctuary if it is possible, and my engineers say it is," Commander Stryker said.

"Sir, even if it is, it would take 5 years in a drydock. Here it will be impossible," Colonel Craven said sadly.

"Not quit, we have a large mobile dock Invictus, capable of repairing Andraste class ships, and it might not be enough to dock Sanctuary, but it will be more than enough to repair it," Commander Stryker said.

For the next nine days, the repair teams crawled through Sanctuary making repairs. They were giving their best effort to repair her at least to a state that she could be towed to Avalon. At the end of the ninth day, all ships and their crews retreated from the system, leaving only a stealth fighter that landed on the back of the Sanctuary and waited.

As Colonel Coven said, on the tenth day several drone ships appeared from nowhere. They circled several time around Sanctuary and the other wrecks, and then disappeared after just 10 minutes of scouting. The stealth fighter waited another 2 hours before jumping to Avalon to report.

As soon as it reported in, the other ships jumped back into the system and resumed repairs. A special clock was made that counted down the time before the next retreat again in another 10 days.

In the meantime, Atlantis was re-supplied from Invictus, and Pleiades from Argona in order to begin the long journey back to the colonies.

Commander Stryker was not happy with the current situation at all.

Two days later, the Commander finally decided to give command of all armed forces to Commander Krasner of the Invictus. He also ignored the governors' protests that the civilians needed to take charge until Atlantis or any other ship returned.

Atlantis, Argona, and Pleiades departed and jumped away with their full capacity.

**1 day before the fall**

**Cylon space – Command baseship 01**

All 7 cylon models stood in the main chamber on board baseship 01 or baseship prime, with several more copies.

"Well I am happy to say that we are ready to commence our plan given to us by the gods," Cavil said, smiling at the lie that made the other human Cylons agree to the attack on the colonies.

"Or given by yourself," a number six known as Kathy said.

"You should rejoice sister, the human pests will be dealt with in a swift fashion and without mercy, and their tyranny will finally be over," Cavil replied.

"Tyranny, you are a psychopath. They are not perfect, far from it, but they are not a threat. They have had the chance to attack us many times and they didn't," Kathy said, really trying to protect humanity believing that the humans could be better than they were.

"Thank you sister for your compliment, but you are wrong, they are up to something and we all know it. We still haven't found those phantom ships. Our spies did not succeed at all. They believe that the colonials are planning a pre-emptive strike," Cavil said, grinning with glee over having the phantom ships as an excuse to get the other Cylons, who were less willing to attack the colonies, to get with the program.

"Yes we cannot be soft now, we must finish what we planned for such a long time," a number four known as Jeremy Simon said.

"Oh please Simon, you will do everything what Cavil says, if he says jump, you will jump," Kathy replied scathingly, looking at Simon with disdain.

"I am only stating the facts," Simon said evenly.

"Doral, and you, yes you Leoben, I know that you have something to do with the malfunctions of those missile systems, you like Kathy don't approve of this attack," Cavil said.

"I did not sabotage the missile system if that is what you are trying to say," Leoben said, trying to protect himself against Cavil's accusations.

"Everything is working now, we are ready," Doral said.

"Good. Then, we will start with something that colonial navy believes is the strongest asset in their sleeve. We will start the attack with the Warstar Andraste and her battle group. Since they are the closest to the red line," Cavil said.

From all sides acknowledgements of agreement could be heard, only Kathy and Leoben remain silent.

**Half an hour later, Baseship 01 cooling system room**

"Well, you definitely have weird places to choose for talking?" Leoben said.

"This is one of the places where Cavil never comes, we are safe here," Kathy replied.

"I know what you want to do. Alert the colonial navy, but Cavil is not stupid, he will know, and then we will both have problems," Leoben said.

"I will not do that, but we can do something else, or actually you can. I want you to sabotage the jamming system; at least that way the colonial battle group of the Warstar Andraste will have a chance to warn the Colonial Fleet," Kathy said.

"And then what? Even if they succeed, thanks to the CNP program they will still lose almost their entire fleet, Cavil will make sure that they do," Leoben said.  
>"Just do what I say and we might have a chance. You forget Leoben, if you hurt humans they become stronger, and whoever survives this holocaust will attack us in return sooner or later. I think Cavil will find that the game he is playing is a deadly one. His actions will end us all, and you know what he did to the final five models, our parents," Kathy said.<p>

"We need more supporters, without them this will be harder to do. But ok I will do my job; you just watch what you're doing," Leoben said.

**22 hours later**

**The Edge of Colonial space – border with Cylon space**

Warstar Andraste the pride of the fleet, identical with the Argona in any case, and her Battle group moved slowly through space with two Jupiter class Battlestars at her sides, along with four Defender class Gunstars.

**Warstar Andraste C.I.C**

"Admiral, I still don't understand why you insist on going with us on this patrol mission. It's a boring mission, and I am sure that you have much better work to do?" Commander Heinkel said who didn't like having an admiral on board his ship.

"You want to say Commander that I am not welcome on this ship?" Admiral Renant said amused.

"No sir, but this is standard patrol on the border, which is not an interesting place to be sir," Commander Heinkel said.

"Don't worry Commander, I will be on just one run with you and I am leaving..."

Before admiral finish his sentence, the proximity alert came online.

"Sir, we have bogies on dradis; it shows six Capital ships dead ahead," the dradis officer said.

"Identify those contacts," Commander Heinkel ordered.

"Frak! The War book says its looks like the Cylons, they are launching raiders!" the dradis officer replied quickly.

"Cylons? After all these year?" Commander Heinkel said looking at the other shocked faces throughout CIC.

"They are opening fire! We have multiple missiles incoming. Sir, the Battlestar Juno reports that they are losing power, Battlestar Odysseus as well!" one of the CIC officers reported.

"Move the Gunstars into a covering position, defense grid open fire when the missiles come into range," Admiral Renant ordered.

"What the hell is happening, I want answers!" Commander Heinkel said franticly.

"Sir, two of the baseships are targeting the disabled Battlestars; they are launching missiles, some of them are nuclear sir!" the dradis officer reported in the midst of his panic.

"Order the Gunstars Triad and Chaser to concentrate on defending Juno, and Gunstars Rusher and Smasher on Odysseus," Commander Heinkel said, "Admiral I have a Raptor ready to take you back to Picon."

"Not going to happen, I'm staying here Commander, but you can send that raptor with information I think Colonial Command will want to know about this," Admiral Renant said.

"Yes sir," Commander Heinkel said, all traces of his former annoyance at Admiral Renants presence gone given their current situation.

"Sir their missile barrage is penetrating the Gunstar's defenses, they can't stop it, gun..." the communications officer started to say.

In space several missiles struck the Gunstar Triad blowing it into pieces, two missiles were nuclear and the Gunstar didn't have a chance.

Moments later an additional salvo destroyed Chaser as well.

"Juno is defenseless, get into range I want iron rain on those baseships now!" Admiral Renant yelled.

"Aye Sir! Helm ahead emergency power!" Commander Heinkel said.

The massive Andraste class Warstar moved towards the enemy, missiles struck her on front section, but a majority was destroyed by point defense batteries. And then she unleashed her destruction on the nearest baseship. Huge rounds that flung ahead almost at the speed of light hit the lead baseship in the central axis and the ship somehow survived the first rounds, but the second volley sealed her destiny. It exploded in a large fireball.

**Baseship 08**

Janice D'Biers stood in the command center watching the battle. She believed it would be quick, but it was not going as planned.

"We lost a baseship damn it, Andraste is moving closer," Gary Doral said.

"Send raiders to finish those remaining Gunstars, and the disabled Battlestars. Have all baseships concentrate their firepower on the Andraste, I want her blown apart," Janice said.

"Done," Gary said.

"Gary why is the Warstar not shutting down?" Janice asked.

"I don't know? I think she has much stronger firewalls than we gave her credit for. We can't seem to break in!" Gary replied, frantically going through the data stream.

Raiders swarm over the colonial defenders, and to make it even worse, the battle group had lost 80% of viper squadrons in contact with the raiders, leaving only few older squadrons to protect them and their own point defense systems. It took a few short seconds before the remaining two Gunstars were destroyed by overwhelming offensive fire from the raiders. And then, one by one the Battlestars were destroyed by nuclear missiles fired from the raiders, but they did not go alone as a second Basestar exploded.

**Andraste C.I.C**

"Sir we just lost Odysseus, frak Juno is destroyed too," Commander Heinkel said.

"Get us out of here..." Admiral Renant started to say.

But before admiral said anything more, several explosion rocks the ship. It was for sure not from the outside, it was from the inside.

"Damage report," Admiral Renant ordered.

"Sir, one of our energizers just exploded, we are losing power," a CIC officer reported.

"How the hell did that happen?" Admiral Renant asked.

"Sir, our engineering team reported they found two dead guards near the destroyed energizer," the CIC officer said.

"Somebody sabotaged the ship, great," Commander Heinkel said.

"Commander deploy marines on every critical part of ship now," Admiral Renant said, "and Commander if you want to send that raptor, now is the time: do it quickly."

"Yes sir," Commander Heinkel said.

"Incoming missiles… lots of them, oh no, almost 40 are nuclear sir," the weapons officer stated worriedly.

"Damn it, restart the defense grid and point them all in the same direction. I want those missiles gone, nothing is to get through," Admiral Renant said.

A Raptor exited the docking bay just in time when first missiles penetrated the Warstars defenses; one of the first nuclear missiles hit the ship. Covered by the explosion the raptor jumped away.

But seconds later, several more nukes hit the ship.

"Report," Commander Heinkel said, who was hit in head with some debris and had a nasty bruise on his head.

"Sir sections 20-35 all venting atmosphere, several guns are out of commission, and we have too much damage so that there is no chance we can jump out of here now," a CIC officer reported.

"Well then, we do what we do best!" Commander Heinkel said, "Set course 1-3-1 I want ramming speed now!" he looked to Admiral Renant who approved his order, and said "It was an honor to serve with you Admiral. Let loose and arm the Nukes and Anti-ship missiles, and let's see if we can take some more of them with us."

"The pleasure was mine Commander, all hands abandon ship! Helm aim for the center Baseship!" Admiral Renant said, and both men saluted each other.

The wounded beast started her last run to destiny, she took an additional baseship with her main cannons before reaching the main baseship formation.

**Baseship 08**

"Evasive actions, back away!" Janice yelled, but she saw that it was pointless, so she only closed her eyes knowing that she will be born again.

The Massive Andraste class Warstar fired her missiles and then hit two baseships at the same time and all three ships exploded in large fireballs. The blast consumed baseship 08 as well, leaving only a single baseship that survived the battle, but even it was badly damaged.

It was the end of the mighty Andraste class Battlestar Andraste, but her sister ship will avenge her. It was just the first step in Cavil's twisted plan, a plan that will cost billions of innocent lives...


	6. 1x06 Downfall

**Downfall**

**Cylon attack Underway**

**Picon Ground HQ, Picon**

The Combat Information Center Fleet Head Quarters Picon was over 1,000 meters beneath the surface of Picon and the largest CIC anywhere in the Colonies.

Fleet Admiral Torres watched one of the screens that showed him the location of all units near the border with the Cylons. He was confused when one of the green dots that represented the Andraste Battle Group stopped blinking and turned yellow for unknown status. At almost the same time, a lieutenant ran forward and reported to the Admiral…

"Admiral we just lost contact with the Andraste Battle Group, we have also lost contact with Gemenon, Scorpia, Caprica, Tauron, and Sagittaron."

"What? Continue to try to contact those colonies and the Andraste Battle Group! Send raptors to each of them as well. What the FRACK is going on?" Admiral Torres replied. But Torres had a feeling in his gut that he already knows what is happening and the raptor sent to the Andraste (Andraste class Warstar) will just confirm it.

"Sir a raptor just jumped in, they report that the Andraste and her battle group have been attacked by the Cylons, and at the time the raptor jumped away the two escorting Battlestars had been shut down somehow and then nuked until they were destroyed. Also, they report that the Cylons seem to have found a backdoor into our computer systems through our CNP program," the lieutenant said.

"Dear gods! Communications send a Priority One warning to all colonial units; tell them to shut the CNP program down, and reload the old program now! That is a direct order from me. Send the logs from the Andraste as proof of the Cylon backdoor," Admiral Torres ordered.

"Yes sir. Sir, we just lost contact with Leonis," the communications officer said frantically.

**Scorpion Fleet Shipyards**

**Battlestar Pegasus**

"Come in!" Admiral Cain said loudly when the door buzzed, and turned her attention back to the Pegasus evaluation reports while continuing to walk briskly on the treadmill. Colonel Belzen walked in and shook his head while smiling at seeing Admiral Cain reading and working out on a treadmill.

"That's your idea of vacation reading?" Colonel Belzen asked in disbelief, as he used his rolled up magazine to point to the Pegasus evaluation reports Admiral Cain was going over.

"What, is that your idea of a hobby?" Admiral Cain asked chuckling and nodding towards the Scorpia Paragliding magazine in Colonel Belzen's hand.

"Yeah, it is," Colonel Belzen said smiling and unrolled the Scorpia Paragliding magazine into both hands facing Admiral Cain. "So, have you figured out how you're going to spend your shore leave?" Colonel Belzen asked curiously.

"Uhh, I was thinking about maybe going home to Tauron to visit some friends, but I haven't made any definite plans yet, nope," Admiral Cain said, huffing her response out as she continued to briskly walk on the treadmill.

"In that case, how about spending some time with us on Gemenon? I know Rika and the girls would love to see you. Come on Helena, you deserve a break. We've been on patrol for over a year now," Colonel Belzen said.

"Look, I've got a repair list as long as my arm, plus the networks are going to be down for the refit and you know I don't like leaving Pegasus at the mercy of a bunch of civilian contractors, so," Admiral Cain said shaking her head.

"Alright, listen to your XO; once in a while it's ok to get off the treadmill," Colonel Belzen said, raising and pointing his finger at Admiral Cain trying to keep her attention.

"I… will think about it," Admiral Cain said.

"Ok," Colonel Belzen said and left the room.

Admiral Cain turned up the treadmill and started running after Colonel Belzen left. Her mind drifted to memories of the first Cylon war when she was on Tauron and lost her family to a squad of centurions, and to block the unwanted memories out Admiral Cain ran faster on the treadmill.

Two hours later, Admiral Cain was walking towards her quarters from C.I.C after meeting Lieutenant Shaw for the first time when a strong explosion rocked the ship, followed by another one moments later. Admiral Cain was pushed sideways against the wall and barely managed to remain on her feet as the ship swayed from the explosions rocking the ship, after recovering she pushed the comms button on the wall closest to her.

"C.I.C what the hell is happening?" Admiral Cain asked.

"We seem to be under attack with multiple missile hits, most of our systems are offline, and we're fighting fires and hull breaches across the ship," Colonel Belzen reported.

"I'm on my way to C.I.C," Admiral Cain said abruptly hanging up the communications channel.

It took a few minutes before Cain managed to reach C.I.C, along the way there were bodies everywhere; many were dead or wounded. Admiral Cain stopped to help Lieutenant Shaw get up and used a backhanded slap to snap her out of the shocked stupor she was in, and then checked on Mister Hoshi who was unconscious with blood coming out of a head wound. Seeing that Mister Hoshi wasn't moving anywhere anytime soon, Admiral Cain ordered Lieutenant Shaw to follow her to C.I.C.

"What the hell hit us?!" Admiral Cain asked angrily as she and Lieutenant Shaw entered C.I.C.

"From radiological readings, looks like nuclear detonations, multiple hits," Colonel Belzen reported.

"It's the Cylons, it has to be. But they've broken the armistice in support of an all-out attack on the colonies. At least we still have our power," Admiral Cain said.

"Yeah, but that's about it. Dradis is erratic; weapons are offline, same with all our computers. We have to do everything manually," Colonel Belzen said worriedly.

"I want all hatches sealed, docking connections severed," Admiral Cain ordered.

The crew hurriedly moved to complete the Admirals orders and the Pegasus used its boosters to get loose from the shipyard moments later, with numerous Cylon raiders flying around letting loose missiles and nuclear warheads in the vicinity. Explosions were everywhere, the entire shipyard was in flames, and some ships which were mostly smaller civilian ships and small auxiliary military units managed to jump, but many of the major military units were either destroyed or about to become nothing but dust with large amounts of nuclear missiles moving their way.

"Lieutenant, spin up our FTL drive," Admiral Cain ordered, "we're preparing for an emergency jump everyone."

"Yes sir," Lieutenant Shaw responded and quickly moved to start up the FTL drive, moving over a dead body to reach the console.

"Sir, two more nukes headed straight for us, estimated twenty seconds to impact," Colonel Belzen said.

"FTL spooling sir, but without the computer we can't calculate a safe jump," Lieutenant Shaw reported worriedly.

"Don't bother calculating, just do it," Admiral Cain said.

"You want to do a blind jump sir? We might end up inside a sun," Lieutenant Shaw said in disbelief.

Outside, two nuclear missiles rapidly close on the position of the Pegasus.

"Missiles closing!" Colonel Belzen said.

"It doesn't matter where we jump to, just frakking do it Lieutenant!" Admiral Cain shouted angrily.

"FTLs online," Lieutenant Shaw reported.

"5 seconds!" Colonel Belzen said worriedly watching the progress of the nuclear missiles on dradis.

"Lieutenant, NOW!" Admiral Cain shouted.

Lieutenant Shaw pressed the jump key and the Pegasus jumped, seconds later two nuclear missiles passed through the previous location of the battlestar with the nearby flames on the docks being extinguished by the ships FTL jump.

**Picon Ground HQ**

"Sir, we've lost contact with Aquaria, Canceron, Libran, and Aerelon," said Commander Tanner flag aid of Admiral Torres, "Admiral Nagala is collecting all available forces in orbit of Virgon for a counter attack."

"Good, tell the Admiral to initiate Operation Exodus in full," Admiral Torres said.

"Yes sir," Commander Tanner replied, pushing buttons on the comms console to get in touch with Admiral Nagala.

"Multiple contacts just jumped into orbit sir," the dradis officer said.

"Sir, Admiral Taggert from the Battlestar Bellerophon reports the entire battle group is losing power, as well as the defense grid," one of the communications officers said.

"Damn it, it's all on Nagala now! Send a message to him and tell him that he is now in charge of the fleet," Admiral Torres said.

In space, the Mercury class Battlestar Bellerophon and two escorting Glorious class Battlestars turned towards the Cylons, but as they come into range all three ships started malfunctioning and shutting down. In several short seconds the entire battle group was reduced to dead hulks as the Cylon raiders launched numerous nuclear missiles to destroy them. Once finished with them, the Cylons started launching a massive number of nuclear missiles at Picon. Picon HQ was hit by seven 50 kiloton nukes and assumed destroyed by the cylons.

**BSG-91 Concordia Battle group: Vicinity of Hera gas giant**

Battlestar Concordia and her escorts Battlestars Hirmfaxi and Phoenix slowly glided through space.

**Battlestar Concordia C.I.C.**

"Sir, priority message from Picon HQ: Cylon attack underway, this is not a drill!" said the communications officer in disbelief and shock.

"Cylon attack, what the hell?" Colonel Mathias asked.

"I don't know. Have all ships set condition one and go to action stations," Commander Clark said.

"Sir incoming instructions from Admiral Nagala, his orders are for all ships to retreat to Virgon, and also that we are to purge our computers of the CNP program: the Cylons found a backdoor into it," the communications officer reported.

Before the Commander can even respond to that, "Sir four bogies on dradis, it appears they are Cylons; they're launching raiders and missiles," the dradis officer reported abruptly.

"All ships, defensive positions and have point defense guns fire at will," Commander Clark said.

"Gods they almost jumped directly on top of us," Colonel Mathias said quietly.

"Commander Ariskon from Hirmfaxi reports a massive missile launch from the nearby baseship... all of them are nuclear sir," the communications officer reported frantically.

"Order Phoenix to provide cover, and get us closer to Hirmfaxi," Commander Clark ordered.

"Sir, our alert fighters just engaged the enemy raiders, but as soon as they made contact they lost power," the dradis officer reported confusedly.

"Damn CNP. Hold on launching the remaining fighters," Commander Clark said.

"But sir, we need to support our fighters already in space," Colonel Mathias protested, "or they will all die."

"They are already dead Colonel, and we can't do anything with the CNP program still loaded," Commander Clark said grief stricken at the thought of leaving so many viper pilots to die.

"Cylon missiles are managing to get through Hirmfaxi's defensive fire, they are going to hit!" the dradis officer reported.

"How many?" Commander Clark asked.

"30 sir," the dradis officer replied.

"They can't survive that much. Get them out of there! Emergency JUMP!" Commander Clark yelled.

"Hirmfaxi reports that their engines are out of business, but they are not defenseless. Commander Ariskon says that they will provide cover to us so we can escape?" the communications officer reported in shock.

Concordia rocked back and forth when it was hit by a nuclear missile. Nearby, Phoenix gets hit as well. Another hit rocked the back of Phoenix, destroying all four cannons and damaging several sections. One lucky missile hit her left flight pod causing terrible damage, but the ship survived.

Hirmfaxi started rolling toward the incoming missiles with her main cannons firing at the nearest baseship, tearing the central axis apart. It took several seconds before the baseship was destroyed. At about the same time, several nukes hit Hirmfaxi causing serious damage, but Hirmfaxi was still rolling towards the next baseship. The mighty battlestar succeeded in avoiding a majority of the missiles, but some hit her. In her dying breath, she rammed into one of the baseships which led to the ensuing debris hitting the remaining baseship, blowing all three ships apart in massive explosions.

"She is gone, get us out of here now," Commander Clark said somberly.

"Where to sir?" the dradis officer asked.

"Jump us in front of the gas giant Hera, there is a junkyard inside of the Hera nebula," Commander Clark ordered.

"Yes sir!" the dradis officer replied.

Both Concordia and Phoenix jumped away.

**On One of the Baseships**

Janice D'Biers the Cylon hero who destroyed the Andraste and bombed Canceron and Tauron looked at the debris of two of her baseships and the Battlestar Hirmfaxi, which were clearly all destroyed from the battlestar colliding with the baseships.

"Brave, but it's all for nothing, they know they will die so why delay the inevitable?" Janice asked contemptuously.

"Yes, but Concordia and Phoenix escaped," Jeremy Simon said.

"And do we know where they jumped?" Janice asked.

"To the Milgard junkyard inside the Hera nebula," Jeremy Simon replied.

"Our forces already raided that area; a small station, and a Valkyrie class Battlestar the Aurora were destroyed there. There is nothing left there," Gary Doral said his eyebrows scrunching together in confusion as he thought of how absurd it was of the colonials to jump there.

"Wrong! That is only a decoy station. They have the real station and an entire junkyard inside the nebula. Follow Concordia, jump now," Janice ordered.

**Near the Hera Nebula **

The Hera nebula was a small nebula that surrounded the Hera gas giant. A small station was built in orbit that served as a supply depot and junkyard. But the real junkyard was built inside the nebula as protection because of the radiation the nebula contained.

For a moment nothing happened, and then two bright flashes lit up space as the Battlestar Concordia and Phoenix jumped in. However, soon after the jump multiple explosions ripped through Phoenix, her left flight pod exploded and was completely destroyed as weapon detonations ran along the flight pod; the engines room also experienced massive damage, and the ship lost control of its maneuvers and moved into an uncontrolled spin.

**Concordia C.I.C.**

"Sir, reports are coming in from the Battlestar Phoenix. They just lost the port landing bay, the engines are down and all energizers are destroyed or damaged, so they are dead in space," Colonel Mathias said.

"Frak, tell Commander Garret to evacuate the ship," Commander Clark said.

"Sir almost the entire command staff of the Phoenix is dead, Lieutenant Somersen just reported," the comms officer said.

"Tell him to abandon ship then, and to take all the supplies, Raptors, and any surviving Vipers onboard to us. Since the Cylons will follow us any minute I want to have a small surprise for them," Commander Clark said.

"Sir?" the comms officer asked.

"How many nukes are on board?" Commander Clark asked.

"Thirty sir, ten of those are 50 kilotons," Colonel Mathias replied.

"Excellent, I want five of them taken to the Phoenix ASAP. I want them to be connected with their nukes and set to a timing of 30 minutes. I want to give the Cylons an unpleasant surprise when they arrive," Commander Clark said.

"I see, it will be done right away," Colonel Mathias said understanding what Commander Clark was thinking.

"Once it is done, set course for the entrance of the Hera's nebula," Commander Clark said.

**Virgon Orbit**

It was a rush in Virgon orbit, with most of the 33 Battlestars and their escorts in defensive positions, and hundreds if not thousands of vipers around them. Maintenance crews worked hard to remove the CNP program from the defensive stations so that they can be operational even when the cylons try to hack them.

**Battlestar Atlantia C.I.C.**

"A few more ships are supposed to be coming, but that's all. Except for those secret objects, everything else seems to be already destroyed or in the process of being destroyed," Commander Kowalski said.

"What about Caprica?" Admiral Nagala asked.

"We lost contact with Caprica several minutes ago. Shall I send a stealth Raptor?" Commander Kowalski asked.

"Yes, send it, I want s…." Admiral Nagala said before he was interrupted.

"Sir, a ship just jump in and it is the Battlestar Caprica," the dradis officer said.

"Get me the Caprica on the line," Admiral Nagala said.

After a few seconds...

"Commander Ericsson what's happened on Caprica?" Admiral Nagala asked.

"It was a disaster sir. As soon as our ships came into range with the Cylons they lost power or started to malfunction. The Caprica itself was lucky since the CNP was shut down, but all other ships went down. All three Battlestars from the Dauntless battle group and Yashuman group as well. Dauntless, Heracles, and Isis were destroyed in the first wave," Commander Ericsson said.

"Then the Cylons came closer to orbit, Yashuman and Universal lost power instantly and they were followed by the Neptune as well. We tried to protect them so they could regain power, but it was too late, the Cylons destroyed all three Battlestars with nukes, and then the same thing that happened on every other colony: the Cylons started sending nuke after nuke at the planet. We barely got out of there alive," Commander Ericsson reported.

"What about Caprican station, it was well armed?" Admiral Nagala asked.

"From what we saw, almost at the same time as when they started bombing Caprica, twelve baseships jumped on top of the station and nuked it to hell, but it did take half of them with it. In the end, nothing was left sir. We escaped to here to join the fight sir," Commander Ericsson said.

"No, I have another plan for you. You will proceed to the Red Horse Nebula. There you will find the Olympia Station and you will join the Battlestars Poseidon and Valkyrie as part of the defense force," Admiral Nagala said.

"But sir, we can help," Commander Ericsson protested unhappily.

"Commander, your ship is badly damaged, and besides one ship is not going to help much. The Cylons will strike soon with their full force. You will do as I have ordered, and as soon as the main attack is over there will be a lot of survivors. Your task will be to collect them all and get them to the Red Horse Nebula and there they will be safe until you can go to Avalon," Admiral Nagala said pointedly.

"Avalon, I don't get it sir?" Commander Ericsson asked in confusion.

"You will, now go Commander and good luck," Admiral Nagala said.

A few seconds later the Caprica jumped away.

"Sir, we just lost contact with Picon HQ. I've been trying for the last 30 minutes to maintain contact, but we've been facing heavy jamming throughout the system. However, now there is no jamming: it's like nothing is there," Colonel Parson said.

"No need to continue colonel, they are gone. Colonel, I want these two messages to be sent; one is for Commander Turner of the Battlestar Prometheus, and one is for Commander Stryker of the Battlestar Atlantis. Send them now and also send this, it is a video message for Commander Stryker," Admiral Nagala said handing Colonel Parson an external drive containing the messages to be sent.

"Yes sir, I will do it right away," Colonel Parson replied quickly taking the external drive.

**Near the Hera Nebula**

After setting the nukes in place and setting the timers to a detonator onboard the Battlestar Phoenix, Concordia evacuated the remaining Phoenix crew and jumped directly to the entrance of the Hera nebula. Two Defender class Gunstars, Modesto and Hook, and one Titan II class Gunstar Stiletto guarded the entrance of the nebula. After all ID checks were confirmed all four ships slowly started to progress deeper into the nebula. One Stealth raptor was left behind in the debris field of the decoy station and Battlestar Aurora waiting for cylons to appear.

Several minutes later two baseships jumped right on top of the Battlestar Phoenix, barely avoiding hitting the ship.

**On the Bridge of One of the Baseships**

"Jump completed," a Doral model said, "scanners indicate that we jumped directly on top of the Battlestar Phoenix."

"What's the status of the Phoenix?" Janice asked.

"Hmmm, sensors are not picking up any life onboard. It seems to be abandoned, so it seems that we did much more damage to her than we thought; the port flight pod is missing, and the ship is full of holes from internal explosions," Doral said.

"So they just left her to die here?" Janice asked in confusion.

"With the amount of damage, and with all the shipyards gone? There is nothing else they can do. I'm picking something on board, it is hard to tell what it is. Should we get closer?" Jeremy Simon asked.

"Fine, move us closer and make it fast. I want to hunt the Battlestar Concordia down quickly," Janice said annoyed.

Two baseships moved even closer to the derelict battlestar, not aware of the danger.

"I'm getting readings of a lot of radiation on board the Phoenix," Doral said.

"Radiation? What kind of radiation? Remember we struck them with nukes," Janice said.

"Not that. All the radiation is one place. Fraking sensors are now getting an analysis. Holy Frak! There are multiple nuclear warheads all banded together. Fifty kilotons yield each!" Doral shouted in a panic as the basestars sensors picked up on the nuclear warheads inside the Phoenix.

"It's a trap, a fraking trap! Move us out of range… jump the ship," Janice said frustrated, knowing that the baseship would likely be destroyed in seconds because they had foolishly gotten too close to the Phoenix.

"Too late Janice it will blow before we are clear," Jeremy Simon replied somberly looking over the readouts of the Phoenix.

"Frakking Humans, I hate to resurrect again," Janice said angrily.

It was all that she said before the nuclear bombs exploded and vaporized the Phoenix and both baseships.

Soon after that, the stealth raptor observing the arrival and destruction of the cylons jumped directly in front of the entrance of Hera's nebula and entered it to report on what happened.

**Inside the Hera Nebula**

The Hera junkyard is located in the middle of the nebula. A large space station located in the middle of the nebula was surrounded by several hundred ships; some wrecks, some in the process of being scuttled, but many mostly intact ships.  
>Two large mobile dockyards of the Hephaestus class lay in front of the station; they were the main facilities for the scrapping of the derelict ships, even though they could repair or build ships as well.<p>

Concordia and her escorts entered into range of the station, and Concordia docked on one of the station piers.

The Commander of the junkyard, Commander Petersen, shook hands with Commander Clark when he entered the stations C.I.C.

"Well it is good to see that someone survived the fighting so far," Commander Petersen said.

"Yeah, Nagala is forming the last of the defenses in orbit of Virgon. I hope he will give the Cylons hell," Commander Clark said.

"What is the status of your group Commander?" Commander Petersen asked.

"We lost the Battlestar Hirmfaxi in our first confrontation with the Cylons, and the Battlestar Phoenix was badly damaged so we left it in front of the nebula as a trap. From the last report from our stealth raptor, the Cylons took the bait. The Phoenix was booby-trapped with several nukes of the fifty kilotons range hidden onboard, and when they exploded they took the Phoenix and both of the baseships with them," Commander Clark said.

"Indeed, nice tactic Commander! We lost the outer station and the Battlestar Aurora. Two baseships jumped in and nuked the Aurora first, then the station. Luckily our Gunstars were inside of the nebula at the time of the attack," Commander Petersen said.

"Tell me Commander what do we have here in the yard? Are there any ships worthy of salvaging?" Commander Clark asked.

"You bet we do, thanks to Admiral Nagala's orders; we kept a lot of our ships in a ready reserve status, but very few are ready for active service," Commander Petersen said.

"Why?" Commander Clark asked in confusion, though elated at the thought of more ships possibly ready to fight the Cylons.

"All surviving ships got a message, or at least we did. They were to go to Red horse nebula and rally at the Olympia station," Commander Petersen said and gave Commander Clark the stations logs for all ships in the surrounding area, which showed a deficiency in the amount of crew needed to man the large amount of ships.

"Hmmm, the problem is that we can get ships, but not crews. We have over twelve thousand crew members on each of the Hephaestus class mobile docks, so I suppose we can get move some of them onto the ready ships. Plus you have the surviving crew of the Phoenix. So we have enough crew members to crew the two Columbia II Battlestars; the recently decommissioned Titan, and Rycon. As well as the Four Defender class Gunstars; the Tigris, Claw, Storm, and Altair, plus those two that are already active which met you at the nebulas entrance. Plus one Vigilant Guardian type Gunstar the Sournier, two Berzerk class Escorts; Sandstorm and Tauron. One Vanguard class Raptor Carrier, the Arakiel. Two Harrier class Strikestars, the Harrier and Crusher, and the two Minerva class Battlestars Hades and Minerva, and finally there is the Warstar Daedalus. There are a few more ships that are more or less in one piece. Oh and I almost forgot we also have the Battlestar Polaris here. She was written off after an explosion in her energizer, it was over half repaired when directed by President Adar to be decommissioned and was ordered for her to be moved to the junkyard. We have fixed some of the damaged sections, but she is still out of commission. We may even be able to take a dozen Gunstars and Frigates with us, but they will not be ready for a fight. We can load all the supplies from the station onto the ships that we are taking and leave the remaining derelicts to be salvaged later. The supply and fuel ships are ready to go and the medical frigate will be ready within the hour," Commander Petersen said thinking about all the work needed to get the ships inside the Hera nebula ready to go.

"A Mercury class Battlestar? Put her in one of the Dry-docks. We can use her, no doubt in that. With this we may even have a chance to strike back on the Cylons. Now we only need personnel for them. Can they be manned by small skeleton crew?" Commander Clark asked.

"Yes they can, but what use, you need a full crew or at least half to operate the Battlestar or Warstar under combat circumstances," Commander Petersen said.

"That is why I want these ships to get to Olympia station. After all, even if we don't get personnel now, these ships will be saved, and they are a very important asset," Commander Clark replied.

"Alright, I will send half of the crews from the mobile dry-docks to man those ships and my crew from the station," Commander Petersen said.

"Good, because the Cylons will be back here soon. If you think that anymore ships can be salvaged dock them to the mobile shipyards; this will allow us to take an additional eleven ships that will not need to be crewed. And while I'm thinking about it, we could dock many of those ships to this station and tie their FTL drive and computers into your systems and jump the station out of here. This will allow us to take a couple dozen more ships with us. I think the cylons are massing for a final battle over Virgon. Once they finish with Virgon and Admiral Nagala, they will start hunting down any surviving colonial unit left. So let's move; we don't have much time," Commander Clark said.

**On its way back to Colonial space...**

**Battlestar Atlantis C.I.C.**

"I still don't understand sir, how you beat Cain and the Pegasus with a Valkyrie class Battlestar," Colonel Haller said hoping to finally solve the mystery that he'd been wondering about since their mission began.

"Well, it is not all about the ships firepower. A little tactics and a clear mind, and anything is possible. After all, Cain is too overconfident, even a little arrogant. I still believe that Adama should have become an admiral, and not her," Commander Stryker said.

"But she is capable of command surely?" Colonel Haller asked raising an eyebrow.

"She is, but on Pegasus things are so strict it's like a prison ship," Commander Stryker said smiling.

"Sir, we having several messages coming through the hyperlink. There was some glitch in the transmission," the communications officer said.

"A glitch?" Commander Stryker asked.

"Yes sir, due to some problems with a connection, at least from the Colony's side, we are getting interference. Messages that should have come already were being stopped. The problem is that now they are all coming in at the same time," the communications officer said.

"Great, let me hear it," Commander Stryker said.

The Communication officer pushed a few buttons, and messages started rolling across the screen. At first the communications officer said nothing, but his worried face said to Stryker that something really bad was coming through in the messages from the colonies.

"Lieutenant is everything okay?" Commander Stryker asked concerned about the officer's health as he turned pale, looked like he was swaying, and looked ready to pass out.

"Sir, this is a priority message from Picon HQ. A Cylon attack is underway, this is not a drill," the communications officer said in shock, refusing to believe what he was reading.

Everyone in C.I.C was in shock, staring blankly at the communications officer.

"What are you talking about?" Stryker asked.

"There's more sir. There's a message from Admiral Nagala only 45 minutes after this one; saying Picon HQ is destroyed, all surviving ships ordered to rendezvous at Virgon for final counter attack," the communications officer said.

"My gods," Commander Stryker said.

All were silent, never before was there absolute silence in the Atlantis C.I.C. like at this moment. It was broken when Colonel Heller, who was wildly shocked, broke the silence "Your orders sir!"

"Send a copy of these transmissions to Pleiades and Argona, and send them also to Avalon. Try to get Admiral Nagala on line if that is possible," Commander Stryker said.

"Sir, that's not possible, at least not from our side. We are still too far from home. Only they can send transmissions with a small amount of feedback, calls that can't last more than a few minutes," the communications officer said.

"Then get all ships to run on 140% power, I want to get there as fast as possible," Commander Stryker ordered.

"We are already going at 105% power, the chief won't support more; it was a miracle that we didn't explode in the first place when we started our journey back home," Colonel Haller said.

"I don't care, tell him to push as much as he can, and the other ships to do the same," Commander Stryker said.

"Yes sir," Colonel Haller replied.

_The Cylons attacking! So Torres and Nagala were right. The Cylons had a plan after all. Blast it all if only that fool Adar believed them._ Stryker hoped that it was not all lost, that the Colonial fleet counter attacked or at least were making the Cylons pay for every inch they took.

**Virgon Orbit**

**Battlestar Atlantia C.I.C.**

"Sir, we sent the message to Atlantis; it will take 5 hours to get to them. Sorry sir, it can't go any faster. But there is something else; our Tycon satellite at the edge of the Terminus sector detected a small feedback signal," Commander Kowalski said.

"Feedback signal?" Admiral Nagala asked.

"Yes sir, it's a signal that travels much faster than a message itself. It appears that the Hyperlink probes managed to increase the speed of it even further. The signal that we received seems to indicate that Atlantis received the message," Commander Kowalski explained.

"Can we use this signal to send a live video broadcast?" Admiral Nagala asked.

"I think we can, if we modify a few antennas on the Tycon satellite, but it could not be longer than a few minutes," Commander Kowalski replied.

"It will do; do it now. I want it as soon as possible," Admiral Nagala said.

"Incoming bogies, lots of them," the dradis officer said.

"How many?" Admiral Nagala asked.

"Just a second sir, they are still jumping in," the dradis officer said, frantically looking over the reports coming in as a massive amount of enemy ships continued to jump in near Virgon.

Baseship upon baseship jumped in. Supply ships and Patrolstars also jumped in with escorting basestars as well. They outnumbered the colonial forces 10 to 1 in ships and in fighters as much as 50 to 1.

"Frak, we have around 130 baseships plus 70 other ships. They are launching raiders, and a lot of them sir," the dradis officer said.

"Order all ships to prepare for battle. Order the Guard Units, civilian ships, and all designated evacuation ships to jump to the evacuation coordinates," Admiral Nagala ordered.

Thirty three Battlestars of all types joined together for one last fight. By their side were the last of the Battlestars escorts formed up to destroy the incoming missiles and raiders. There were 40 Gunstars and 15 Strikestars, the last of a once mighty fleet.

**This is a list of Battlestars that participated in this battle**:

Nova class: Atlantia

Mercury class: Mercury, Galaxy, Triton, Rhiannon, Helios, Solaria, Apollo, Zeus, Acropolis, Cerberus, Challenger, Hyperion

Indra class: Indra, Durga, Defender

Jupiter class: Jupiter, Shiloh, Venus, Zodiac, Osiris, Andromeda , Marathon

Valkyrie class: Night Flight, Hel, Vanir, Erasmus, Morrigan

Atlas class: Atlas, Selene

Columbia II class: Ourboros,

Manticore class: Manticore

Fenris class: Fenris

Glorious class: Vulture

Sirius class: Sirius

"Incoming raiders sir," the dradis officer said.

"All fighters are free to engage, and I want raptors not on the picket line with interceptor missiles to be readied with nuclear missiles and sent at the Cylon baseships behind their line of raiders," Admiral Nagala ordered.

"Do we have a link with Atlantis?" Admiral Nagala asked.

"Yes sir," the communications officer replied.

**Battlestar Atlantis C.I.C.**

"Sir, incoming transmission, it is from Admiral Nagala sir?" the communications officer said in confusion.

"How the hell, never mind put it on," Commander Stryker said.

"Since I don't know how long we can talk I will be short and to the point, I congratulate you once again on your mission. Commander, it is my privilege and honor to promote you to the rank of Admiral. Congratulations!" Admiral Nagala said.

"Sir?" Stryker said, speechless, as were all others officers in C.I.C.

"Yes, I know you wonder why? You are old enough, and you are excellent officer Stryker. We cannot win this fight today, the most important thing for you to know is that the Cylons have agents, and spies in the fleet. Half of my ships in the fleet right now have problems, losing power, explosions, have internal problem, and with the massive Cylon fleet, this battle will not last long. From this point forward you are to assume command of all remaining colonial ships. Also with this transmission, I'm sending you coordinate's for a base in the Red Horse nebula. There will be a few surprises there for you Admiral Stryker. And if Admiral Thorn survives he will join you on Avalon once they reach you," Admiral Nagala said.

"Sir, we are already en route for home, and will all due respect sir, will not stand down or go back. We will reach colonial space, and find whatever survivor we can and escort them back to Avalon," Admiral Stryker said.

"Well, since I don't have time to argue with you Admiral Stryker, do what you think is best. Your excursion was top secret, as were several other missions in colonial space. So the Cylons don't know about you and your ships. You will lose the element of surprise if you jump into the fray. But if you are already coming, get to the Red Horse nebula and lead all the ships there to Avalon. Is that clear!" Admiral Nagala said.

"Yes sir," Admiral Stryker said.

"And Stryker, if you have a chance, possibly try to make contact with the Copernicus colony and the Battlestar Prometheus, if not, do what I've ordered you to do. I have hope in you, save as many as you can, I..." Admiral Nagala said before the transmission was lost.

"Sir we lost contact," the communications officer said.

"Get it back!" Admiral Stryker said angrily.

"We can't sir, it's being jammed at the source, so we can't," the communications officer said shaking his head sadly.

"Blast, we are still weeks from home. Communications, send a message to the coordinates that Admiral Nagala gave us; tell them to stay there and await our arrival," Admiral Stryker said.

"Yes sir," the communications officer replied, busying himself with operation the communications console and Tyche deep space satellite.

**Virgon Orbit**

The battle started with full haste from both sides. Seeing the disadvantage of how many raiders there were compared to their vipers, Admiral Nagala ordered several nuclear strikes directly into their oncoming line of Raiders before they reached the vipers. Hundreds, and even a few thousand raiders were destroyed, though an accurate count was impossible to reach given just how many raiders were incoming, before the raiders reached the vipers and could no longer be hit in mass by nukes without risk to the colonial fleets own fighters. Vipers and Raiders tore into each other, and although outnumbered the viper pilots fought with all they had. It was a huge surprise when several hundred heavy raiders jumped behind the back of the colonial line to strike at the orbital platforms. Many platforms were destroyed in the process, but the only saving grace was that many of the heavy raiders are destroyed by the platforms in return, though not enough to stop the attack. In retaliation; several baseships were destroyed by heavily armed raptors carrying nukes behind the Cylons defensive line, where they lacked adequate raider protection and as such only a handful of raptors were lost to the Cylons defensive fire. Other raptors not involved with the nuke strike remained with the vipers; firing off interceptor missiles and suppression fire at the raiders, and periodically returning to their ships to re-arm their depleted stores of weapons.

"Damn their heavy raiders just took out a good chunk of the defense grid from behind. And some of their Raiders are pushing through our viper line to get at our ships," Commander Kowalski reported.

"What about the baseships?" Admiral Nagala asked.

"They are moving in, and they will be in range in 3 minutes," Commander Kowalski said.

"Frak! Launch every single reserve viper and assault raptor we have in our bays. And prepare for close combat," Admiral Nagala said determinedly.

Cylon raiders started penetrating the viper line in hordes, and although they fought valiantly it didn't help too much. Realizing that without support of those fighters he would lose them all, Nagala ordered the entire line to move forward with the Gunstars to shell enemy raiders with everything they had.

**Command Basestar 01**

Cavil watched with a smile as the raiders swarmed over the colonial battle line, decimating the colonial fighter force.

"Well it's time to stop playing, all ships forward. Arm the nukes and all missile batteries. I want one large swarming attack with nukes, there are too many Battlestars there, lets reduce their numbers before we get closer," Cavil said smiling widely at the destruction being unleashed on the colonial fleet.

"You really are enjoying this Cavil, you are a fraking sadist," Kathy said, disgusted at Cavils obvious glee.

Leoben didn't succeed in sabotaging the jamming completely when Janice attacked Andraste. They were almost boxed believing that they were discovered in their sabotage. Kathy knew she had to be be very careful now. Thankfully Nagala had collected a lot of Battlestars and most of them were Mercurys. Without so many raiders, even those 33 Battlestars would be a very deadly foe for the cylon fleet. In an open fight more than half of the baseships would be destroyed and almost all others would be damaged at some point before the last battlestar would be destroyed.

She can only watch in horror, as there is nothing else to do.

"I must say Nagala put his assets as best he could, if that line gets closer they will slaughter our first line of defense," Doral said.

"Yes, well let's make sure that doesn't happen. All ships fire every missile they have now!" Cavil ordered.

Hundreds of missiles were launched from the baseships moving towards the Colonial line. Since the vipers were heavily engaging with raiders, and half of the Gunstars were supporting them, there would be many casualties to the colonial fleet. Nagala knew with this kind of attack the battle would not last long, but at least the civilian ships on the other side of planet would have a chance. One Titan II class Gunstar plus the Planetary Guard units from Aerilon and Virgon would lead every civilian ship that made it to orbit to the Red Horse nebula. They were to jump in 20 minutes. He had to hold the Cylons for 20 more minutes, whatever the cost.

"Missiles incoming, and there are hundreds of them. Many of them are conventional, but there are a pretty large number of nukes as well," Commander Kowalski said.

"Deploy the remaining Gunstars to a defensive line, maximum defense fire, all Battlestars in defensive position, I want that wave destroyed," Admiral Nagala said.

All ships started deploying into a positions that would give them the most defensive fire power possible.

"Missiles incoming sir, 250km, 200km, 150km, 100km…." the dradis office reported.

"To all ships, open fire, fire at will," Admiral Nagala ordered.

In space, suddenly all the Battlestars and Gunstars came to life, as thousands of point defense gun and anti-fighter-missile flaks all open fire in the same direction at the same time. The gunstars even launched hundreds of interceptor missiles to intercept the enemy missiles.

The massive display of defensive firepower instantly destroyed several hundred missiles, but new missiles were already replacing those destroyed by the colonials. The Cylons launched several waves of missiles; wave after wave, making it one huge wave with over ten to twenty thousand missiles, with the exact numbers were not known due to the mass confusion of the fighting. All ships in Cavils fleet launched missiles as fast as they could.

Cavil believed that he would destroy the entire colonial fleet with just one wave, but he was wrong. It did not go as he planned; far too many of the colonial ships for his taste survived his mad rush of death. And there is much more work to do once Nagalas fleet was dealt with. Every base, outpost, mining outpost, secret base, and junkyard must be found and destroyed or taken. And then there were the reports of phantom ships in his head. He believed that many of them were in the battle groups he already destroyed and that rest had to be in Nagala's forces, but when he received a report of the ships in orbit of Virgon, he saw that he was wrong. All the ships there were ships that had been in active service for some time and not members of the reserves or guard units. The biggest surprise was the newest one, a Fenris class battlestar. The Fenris was a modern marvel of computer and virtual controls and engineering and should not be active.

Missiles were now penetrating the inner defenses; several Gunstars were destroyed by missiles. Several more deliberately move into the missiles course, especially if it was a nuclear one to save a battlestar. Raptors, those that survived, fired interceptors until they were out and then moved directly into the path of nukes, just to save a battlestar. But even with those sacrifices, at least seven Battlestars were destroyed, one by one. First to go was the Erasmus, which was hit by half a dozen missiles and at least 8 nukes before exploding. Battlestar Zodiac exploded when two nukes hit the tylium bunker inside one of the viper bays, rocking the ship out of control before being hit by another four nukes and then finally exploded. Part of Zodiacs starboard bay hits and damages the nearby battlestar Galaxy. Battlestars Shiloh, Vulture, and Manticore, were all hit by at a least dozen nukes and were tore apart by numerous standard missiles. The Battlestar Hel was blown apart by half a dozen nukes, followed by Marathon also hit by numerous nukes. Almost every other battlestar was hit by nukes, but even badly damaged they survived. But more and more Gunstars were destroyed in suicide maneuvers, trying to save as many Battlestars as they could. And while they were dying they still reached out and took out a dozen of the closest Basestars with them. Seeing that staying in his position he will only lose more ships, Nagala ordered a forward charge directly into the Cylons lines, aiming for their baseships. At least they would take as many Cylons as they could with them.

**Atlantia C.I.C.**

"All ships move forward, Gunstars and Strikestars are to provide support, all remaining vipers and raptors are to continue to provide intercepts on the raiders," Admiral Nagala ordered.

In Nagala's mind it was a magnificent sight. With so many Battlestars in one large formation rushing towards the Cylon baseships line while firing everything that they had at the enemy, and this time the colonials were firing nukes back and the cylons were the ones taking a beating.

**Command Basestar 01**

"They are charging us, if I am correct they will try to ram us," Doral said.

"Let them try, they will not get even close to our lines," Cavil replied confidently.

"You know Cavil you are an idiot, a very big arrogant idiot!" Kathy said loudly.

"Thank you dear sister, your insults amuse me," Cavil chuckled, "Launch missiles again. Then move us closer, if they want play we will play. And re-deploy the raiders, let them attack the Gunstars first then the Battlestars. I want a second attack with heavy raiders, this time on the Battlestars."

The colonial charge was moving faster and faster, and now they started firing all main weapons on the cylons. Since colonial ships had much better range, especially with the main cannons, they opened fire on the baseships long before the baseships could respond with its own feeble cannons. Only missiles were fired.

Two baseships exploded when they were hit by a pair of Mercury's, while an additional one was destroyed by the Battlestar Fenris. Several nukes badly damage Acropolis, while the Gunstar in front of Acropolis exploded at the same time; larger parts of it hit the incoming Acropolis, damaging her main weapons and causing even more damage to the already damaged hull. Two additional nukes hit Acropolis in her engine block, destroying one energizer and disabling both secondary ones as well and since it was in a full ahead maneuver the Acropolis lost control and started rotating to the left. It pass several short seconds before finally collide with battlestar Venus and exploding, the explosion and collision with Acropolis caused tremendous damage, and Venus exploded as well. The destruction of the two battlestars released a large amount of debris which was thrown into the Cylons line; destroying a couple of basestars and numerous raiders, with one of the battlestars heavily damaged flightpods careening directly into the central axis of a baseship and destroying it as well. Surrounding baseships and raiders moved quickly out of the way of the ensuing debris to avoid the same fate of their compatriots.

Battlestar Morrigan suddenly exploded from the inside; several heavy raiders jumped directly in the path of Morrigan, entering the Morrigan bays, and launched nukes, so that almost the entire battlestar was vaporized.

Even with those hit and run attacks by heavy raiders, there were no more ships lost except a few Gunstars and Strikestars. While the losses in heavy raiders destroyed in the process was very heavy. The Battlestars were now in the line of fire of baseships and both sides start shelling each other. Vipers and raiders were still heavily engaged, although more and more raiders started shelling directly on the Battlestars now. Battlestar Apollo exploded after receiving seven nukes, two dozen missile strikes, and cannon fire from two baseships.

Atlantia destroyed a Patrolstar, a baseship and heavily damaged another baseship before the same baseship was finished by Triton.

Battlestar Solaria, after receiving half dozen nukes, and with most of her guns gone, rammed into one of the baseships, and both ships exploded taking one Patrolstar with them as well.

Several baseships concentrated fire on battlestar Indra, shelling her with cannons and missiles. It was finally destroyed when two nukes hit her in engine section causing engines to overload and exploded. More than half of the Indra survived, but explosions tore large parts of it apart, killing almost all on board. Night Flight succeeded in a nuclear attack on a baseship blowing it apart. But badly damaged and after critical hits, it lost control and collided and exploded with another baseship destroying it as well.

Another baseship exploded when it was hit by the main cannons from Triton. Battlestar Ourboros, the only Columbia Mk II battlestar in the fight, rammed into a baseship destroying both ships in the process.

Battlestar Atlas exploded after being hit by a few nukes reaching the tylium bunker inside the flight pods, as well as in the engine blocks. But not before Atlas destroyed a pair of baseships with her guns.

The fight turned even more brutal, with a majority of vipers gone, and raiders swarming over the Battlestars. Almost all the Gunstars were gone and only 4 Strikestars were still active.

Battlestar Jupiter received critical damage after being hit by several nukes and a swarm of missiles launched from raiders. Now only under partial control and starting to rotate around its axis, she started her last run to the Cylon lines. Admiral Nagala watched on his monitor the brave and valiant run to the last second of Jupiter's life before she crashed into one of the baseships and disappeared in a large fireball together with the baseship.

Three baseships shelled the Battlestar Defender before it finally exploded. Battlestar Cerberus, the closest to Defender, took her place and returned the favor to the Cylons by destroying a baseship with her main cannons and a second with nukes. The remaining baseship now reinforced with new baseships launched a massive volley of nukes on Cerberus itself. Cerberus destroyed over half of them before they could hit the battlestar. But even with the high amount of damage, Cerberus continued firing on the Cylons before a nuke destroyed her main cannons. With a majority of her guns destroyed or taken out of action, Cerberus did the one remaining thing that she could do and put in a course for one of the baseships, launching all her remaining nukes on a second baseship that tried to flank her. While finally ramming the baseship in front of her, and the second baseship also exploded after being hit by multiple nukes from Cerberus.

Battlestars Galaxy and Rhiannon dueled against 5 baseships and several supports ships. Several nukes exploded inside of Galaxys bay, but did not cause too much damage so she continued fighting. Several nukes fired from raiders strike Rhiannon causing it to temporally lose power after one of her energizers went down. Rhiannon however succeeded in launching a full nuclear load on two of the nearest baseships, blowing both apart before being hit again by at least ten nukes and several dozen other missiles. At first it looked like Rhiannon would survive the hits, but it finally exploded. Part of it hits Galaxy damaging it even more. Galaxy follows Rhiannon soon and it was destroyed by concentrated fire from three baseships and lots of raiders.

Challenger exploded after being struck by multiple nukes launched by heavy raiders. Battlestar Vanir rammed one of the support ships and both ships exploded, with the debris of both ships damaging the surrounding Cylon ships.

**Battlestar Atlantia C.I.C.**

"Blast sir, we just lost Challenger. Our flank is open, Selene is trying to get to us to cover us sir!" Commander Kowalski said.

"Commander send a message to Hyperion and Helios; tell them to retreat to the Red Horse nebula," Admiral Nagala said.

"Sir?" Commander Kowalski asked in confusion and shock.

"This battle is lost Commander, Atlantia is in bad shape, we have already received at least a dozen nukes, half of our guns are out of commission, and a majority of all the remaining Battlestars are in the same situation. All our Gunstars are lost, the Strikestars too, maybe a few vipers are left if not all have been destroyed. It's over. Tell all other ships who can to jump out. That is a direct order! Get them out and save themselves for another day to do more damage to the Cylons," Admiral Nagala ordered.

Commander Kowalski ordered communications to send the order, but almost instantly the answer was no. Every battlestar that survived so far was in no shape for jumping, many had received so many nuclear hits that even trying to jump could result in an explosion. Admiral Raymar from Helios openly refused the order.

"Damn it, is there anyone that will listen to the damn order," Admiral Nagala asked sheepishly.

"Sir, the civilian fleet lead by the Gunstar and the Planetary Guard units will complete their evacuation jumps in 5 minutes," Commander Kowalski said.

"Good, let's give them a few more minutes shall we. All ships forward, do not stop until you reach the cylon support baseships, ram them if need be, but do not stop," Admiral Nagala said.

The remaining Battlestars started running on full power, with heavy damage that can be seen on all of them. Atlantia in the middle, with Fenris and Triton on her sides, and all others around them, they charged the cylon line of support ships with red in their eyes.

All Battlestars fired their weapons on the Cylons destroying first line baseships and their support ships. Numerous nuclear missiles were released from the battlestars with no more regard for their supply of weapons, many basestars were destroyed even as over half the missiles were destroyed by raiders. Many of the Battlestars were on fire and under constant fire from raiders, heavy raiders and missiles from the baseships as well. The Battlestar Zeus exploded after being hit by several nukes in the engine block. Selene followed with one of her flight pods tearing itself from the main body and hitting the Battlestar Durga. Durga, already weakened and badly damaged, exploded from the impact. Osiris rammed a baseship, blowing both ships apart. Andromeda followed her example and rammed a baseship as well. Mercury was blown apart by multiple missile and cannon hits from several baseships, while releasing her own missile and cannon fire critically damaging many of them in return. Battlestar Hyperion destroyed a baseship before being destroyed itself by enemy fire.

Battlestar Helios, struck by several missiles exploded near one of baseships, part of the debris hits one supply ship and blew it apart.

Only Atlantia, Triton and Fenris remained. Fenris was first to go, it destroyed a baseship and then rammed into a second blowing apart the second one, while the explosion consumed one Patrolstar as well. Triton lost control and collided with a baseship and exploded taking two supply ships with them.

Atlantia, the mighty Atlantia now stands alone, badly damaged, with no possibility of running. She started her way into the main cylon line.

**Battlestar Atlantia C.I.C.**

"Well that's it admiral, it was a pleasure to serve with you sir," Commander Kowalski said and saluted.

"The pleasure is all mine Commander, to serve with all of you, a true honor," Admiral Nagala said, observing that the entire C.I.C, or at least those who were still alive were watching him, the entire C.I.C. saluted proudly.

Atlantia fired her last shots before ramming into a baseship, blowing both apart. But the explosion also destroyed one supply ship and Atlantia's port landing bay hits another baseship destroying it as well.

On the other side of Virgon the Titan II Gunstar Thaddeus along with the 27 ships of the Aerilon and Virgon planetary guard units and over 300 civilian ships jumped away.

As soon as they destroyed the colonial ships the cylons started their attacked on Virgon. Raiders and heavy raiders fought to neutralize the ground defense grid before the baseships could launch their deadly payload on Virgon that would kill billions. The fighting would last for three hour before the end came and the defense grid, planetary defense centers, and the planetary guard viper units managed to bleed the Cylons white. While the Virgon defenders were destroyed, they managed to destroy 85 percent of the remaining raiders and six support ships before the end.

**Command Basestar 01**

In the control room, Cavil was smiling as he enjoyed his victory. With no remorse for all those who died today, or for all those that were innocent.

"Finally it is over," Doral said, "We can start sweeping through the system to start looking for stragglers."

"Yes, it did not go as I expected. We lost far too many baseships and support ships, but that is a small price for victory. Now we can start the second phase," Cavil said smugly.

"Do you know what you have done Cavil, you just doomed us all, this may be a victory, but if there are more human ships that survived they will want revenge," Kathy said.

"Hah, even if there are any survivors, what can they do? We are already building 50 new baseships. And with their current fleet, they can't do anything to stop us. If anyone survived at all, they won't for long," Cavil said confidently.

"There really is no limit to your arrogance. You are a fool even greater than I thought," Kathy said shaking her head.

"Now watch it sister, watch it. I brought us victory today, enjoy it. Don't make me box you," Cavil said with anger in his tone.

**A little over one hour away from Virgon at full sublight speed**

**Battlestar Galactica C.I.C**

"Priority message sir," communications officer Duala reported, with blank eyes and expression, and her voice shaky, handing Commander Adama the message slip.

Commander Adama removed his glasses after reading the message briefly, his eyes downcast.

"Engineering, spin up FTL drives one and two, Lieutenant Gaeta break out the FTL table and warm up the FTL computer. We are making a jump," Colonel Tigh said, unaware of Commander Adama's preoccupation with the priority message from fleet command.

"Admiral Nagala is dead. Battlestar Atlantia's been destroyed, so's the Triton, Solaria, Columbia, the list goes on," Commander Adama said sadly interrupting Colonel Tigh.

The entire CIC was silent, with everyone looking shocked and looking up from their stations at Commander Adama.

"Who's the senior officer? Who's in command?" Colonel Tigh asked.

"Send a message to all colonial military units, priority channel one. Message begins, I am taking command of fleet, all units ordered to rendezvous at Ragnar Anchorage, acknowledge by same encryption protocol, Adama," Commander Adama said seriously.

**Red Horse Nebula Olympia Station**

**Olympia Station C.I.C.**

"How many ships have arrived here so far Commander Corgon?" Admiral Thorn asked.

"Sir, 352 civilian ships of all classes have arrived from Virgon, and they are escorted by the Titan II Gunstar Thaddeus, but the good news sir is that with them are the units of the Virgon and Aerelon Guards. The Aerelon Guard contains the Battlestar Freedom (Geneva class MK2), the Battlecruiser Hoplite (Hoplite class), the Heavy Cruisers Cataphract and Javelin (Cataphract class) the Light Cruisers Byzantine, Persia, and Agamemnon (Byzantine class) the Destroyers Phalanx, Gauntlet, and Gearing (Phalanx class) and the the Patrolstars Dagger, Hunter, Crossbow, Percy, and Gamble (Dagger class). It appears that they were on a training mission with the Virgon Guard at the time of the attack and Admiral Nagala ordered both units to active duty, and gave them the mission of evacuating the civilians from Virgon," Commander Corgon reported, "The Virgon Guard consists of the Battlestar Independence (Geneva class MK2), the Battlecruiser Venitrix (Hoplite class), the Heavy Cruisers Aether, and Adder (Cataphract class), the Light Cruisers Ares, and Argos (Byzantine class), the Destroyers Anubis, and Archer (Phalanx class), and finally the Patrolstars Artemis, Avenger, Baldur and Ceros (Dagger class)."

"We have also received around 400 civilian ships from all around the colonies. There was a large group from Hera's junkyards as well; they saved and jumped the station. They also brought with them the Battlestar Concordia, and the Warstar Daedalus which are in perfect shape and only need to top off their crews. Additionally; two Columbia II class Battlestars the Titan and Rycon (Rycon is a command version), and two Hephaestus mobile docks, of which one dock holds the Mercury class Battlestar Polaris that was damaged in a explosion some time before the attack and written off on the orders of President Adar. They have six Defender class Gunstars; the Tigris, Claw, Storm, Altair, Modesto and Hook. Then there is the Titan II class Gunstar Stiletto, one Vigilant class Guardian Gunstar Sournier, two Berzerk class support ships Sandstorm and Tauron, one Vanguard Raptor carrier class ship Arakiel, two Harrier class Strikestars Harrier and Crusher, and two Minerva class Battlestars Minerva and Hades. Plus two older Titan Gunstars which were partially scrapped, but can be rebuilt carried by the second Hephaestus mobile dock. Finally, there are the 12 Firestars and the 2 Ares class Battlestars they used to jump the station. They will need to be refitted and manned before we can use them though," Commander Corgon said.

"Also, the Battlestar Caprica jumped in some time ago on the orders of Admiral Nagala. She was docked to the station for repairs. I think she will join Valkyrie and Poseidon after her repairs are finished. Sir, I almost forgot; there were a few ELINT ships, smaller mobile docks, a few medical ships, one training Strikestar Courageous, and they brought with them over 4,500 cadets. Plus there's over 10,000 personnel that we saved from the moon training base in orbit of Leonis and from the ground base on Aerelon," Commander Corgon reported, looking away from the reports and handing them to Admiral Thorn.

"My gods, we have fighting force. So in final tab we have this, putting these assets with our own; the Skinfaxi class Battlestar Concordia, Valkyrie class battlestars: Caprica, Valkyrie and Poseidon, the Columbia II Battlestars Titan, Rycon, Athena, Cerberus, the Minerva class; Minerva and Hades, the Mercury class Battlestar Polaris, Warstar Daedalus, Six Defender gunstars (Tigris, Claw, Storm, Altair, Modesto and Hook), Titan II Gunstars (Stiletto, Thaddeus, Calamity, Sturgeon, Stargazer, Redeemer, Albatross, Resurgence, Avenger, Aggressive), Vigilant guardian (Sournier), Berzerk Sandstorm and Tauron, Harriers Harrier and Crusher, and Vanguard carrier Arakiel. As well as the heavy Battlestar Theseus, and two large mobile shipyards Unity and Eternity with their heavy weaponry equipped," Admiral Thorn said reading the entire list with a big smile.

"Yes sir, and not to forget those Elints, repair ships, smaller docks, medical ships, Hera Station, and other ships in the civilian fleet," Commander Corgon said.

"Any news from Asclepius? Although we have a lot of medical ships, we could use a bigger one," Admiral Thorn said hopefully.

"Sorry sir, the Asclepius was destroyed in the docks over Picon. The only things that survived were a few dozen civilian ships and the Stealthstar Banshee. The Banshee was in one of the shipyards piers. It was decommissioned shortly before the attack, and only survived thanks to Colonel Marciel," Commander Corgon said.

"Well better..." Admiral Thorn started to say before being interrupted.

"Jump point directly on the mouth of the nebula sir!" the dradis officer reported interrupting Admiral Thorn midsentence.

"Identification on that ship?" Commander Corgon said shortly.

"Yes sir, it identified itself as the Battlestar Victorious," the dradis officer said.

"Victorious, but how, she was destroyed near Leonis?" Commander Corgon asked rasing an eyebrow.

"Sir, Commander Wellinger sent Victorious' ID, he is requesting to dock with one of the shipyards; the ship is badly damaged and they need assistance," the communications officer reported.

"Right, send the tugs to tow them in; every additional battlestar is a bonus at this point," Admiral Thorn said, "and Corgon, send scouts to the other junkyards, reserve yards, posts, outposts, and patrol areas to try to find any more ships for our fleet."

"Sir where will we find the crew for all these ships? I mean even now we might have barely enough to man the ships we have, and I've already sent some transports to pick several thousand more marines and naval personnel from the Aquarian moon Larentis, and to inspect destroyed ships for survivors all around the system," Commander Corgon said.

"Luckily Commander, our two shipyards each carry 25 thousand people; we can move 10 to 15 thousand from them to the new ships. Additionally, I want you to send scouts to the recent battle sites around and throughout the colonies and find as many personnel as possible, as well as commence salvage operations on the destroyed warships from our fleet. Even if we only find more viper pilots it'll be worth it. For now get Victorious into one of the shipyards ASAP," Admiral Thorn said.

"Yes sir," Commander Corgon replied, beginning to send out orders for their gunstars, raptors, and other various ships to be sent out on Admiral Thorns' orders.

Victorious was a heavily modified Indra class battlestar. She was carrying four landing bays instead of two, in a similar way as those on the Mercury class Battlestars. In the next 30 minutes Victorious was docked safely on Eternity.

**Olympia Station Observation Deck**

Admiral Thorn watched the magnificent site of hundreds and hundreds of ship all around the station. Now they only needed to wait for the Battlestar Atlantis to arrive as Admiral Nagala ordered. He hoped that Commander Stryker (not knowing that Styker was admiral now) would come soon.

"Admiral sir," Commander Wellington said raising his arm in a salute.

"Relax Thomas, that's an order, you don't need to salute, not after what you went through," Admiral Thorn said.

"Yes sir, thank you sir," Commander Wellington said, sighing in relief and from exhaustion, relaxing for the first time after hours of fighting.

"So how the hell did you survive? We heard that the entire battle group over Leonis was destroyed in the first wave," Admiral Thorn asked.

"Well sir, we were on patrol around that cold stone Cybele alone while the rest of the battle group with the Battlestars Hades and Columbia were in orbit at the time of the attack. The Battlestars were shut down in a matter of seconds, and then they were nuked to hell by the Cylons. We jumped directly on top of one of the baseships and we started shelling it with everything we had. Luckily the CNP program was broken and we had to remove it at the time, because my chief performed some tests, which saved the ship but not the fighters we launched. More than half of them were shut down; bloody cylons had a shooting practice. We managed to destroy a baseship, and badly damage the second one. Colonel Mitchell realized that there were a lot of survivors in the wrecks from all the ships and our fighters. So I took a risk sir and sent SAR raptors to save those men and woman. We picked up over two thousand people. At the same time two additional baseships jumped in and start shelling us with everything they had. For 15 minutes we held our own against 2 baseships, playing chicken with them. A Gunstar showed up from nowhere and jumped directly into the path of one of the baseships, destroying both ships. That gave us time to recall our raptors and shuttles. We were hit by multiple nukes, and the port flight pod was out of commission, but we managed to save over 2,100 more people before we were forced to retreat. We received a message from Nagala for all colonial ships to go to Red Horse Nebula. And so we did," Commander Wellington said.

"I am glad that you are here Commander, we need you and your ship," Admiral Thorn said.

"I am curious Admiral, when will we strike back?" Commander Wellington asked.

"As soon as Commander Stryker and the Battlestar Atlantis arrive," Admiral Thorn said.

"Battlestar Atlantis? I've never heard of it," Commander Wellington said in confusion.

"From what I know, it is a Block II Mercury class battlestar, sent on a very important mission for the colonies to establish a new colony called Avalon," Admiral Thorn said.

"A safe port in our darkest hours," Commander Wellington said.

"Well, you could put it that way Commander," Admiral Thorn said.

**Cylon Space, Command Baseship 01**

In the command room a large number of cylons debated and argued amongst themselves when finally Cavil quieted them all.

"Alright, I want a full report; how the frak did so many colonial warships survive?" Cavil asked.

"We, did n.." Simon started to say before Cavil interrupted.

"Not you Simon, if you start blabbing it will take too long. Doral, I want a full report on the ships that are missing so that we can hunt and destroy them," Cavil said.  
>"Okay, but you are not going to like this," Doral said, "There are several groups that we know of so far; first there's Galactica's group at Ragnar which succeeded in escaping from Ragnar and now is on its way to the Promar sector in it's so called search for Earth. There is Pegasus and Admiral Cain, and we don't have any idea where she is, but with her temperament we will find her soon. The Battlestars Prometheus, Celestial and Eternal are all missing, as well as Battlestar Nova and the Lobo Negro station, and several Gunstars with them."<p>

"Great, two Nova class ships disappeared with a fully armed mobile shipyard," Cavil said interrupting.

"That is not all, not even close. We scouted several junkyards including the biggest one inside of the Hera nebula. It's abandoned, but from the list of ships that are supposed to be there, many are missing including the Warstar Daedalus. Janice reports that the Battlestar Concordia survived. We also have list of additional ships that are missing but presumed destroyed in the fighting; the Battlestars Caprica, Valkyrie and Poseidon. Finally there is the Battlestar Victorious that escaped from Leonis," Doral said.

"You're joking with me Doral?" Cavil asked, "You want to tell me that there is almost a dozen Battlestars out there, and who knows how many other units taken from those junkyards. Great this is magnificent, an epic failure!"

"Well I told you that it would be a failure," Kathy said narrowing her eyes angrily.

"Shut your mouth as I'm not in the mood to play with you Kathy," Cavil said shortly.

"That's not all," Doral said.

"What there's more? Just Fracking perfect," Cavil said.

"We managed to make some headway on those phantom ships you wanted. We found the names, for them. What we saw is that all of them are listed as Battlestars; Atlantis, Sword, Argona and Pleiades," Doral said.

"Pleiades was supposed to be in the Kurashiki reserve yard for disposal after that fatal error on her," Simon said in disbelief.

"Well she is obviously not!" Cavil said, fuming.

"We know nothing else about these ships, where they are or what classes they are except for the Pleiades. All we know is that they exist. My guess is that it's some colonial project outside of the Cyrannus system," Doral said.

"They could be anywhere," Leoben commented.

"True, also more than 300 civilian ships jumped together with one Titan II Gunstar and the Virgon and Aerelon Guard units, and we still don't know where they are," Doral said.

"Damn, damn, this is not as I planned it to happen!" Cavil said.

"It's never as you plan Cavil," Kathy said

"Watch it sister," Cavil said.

"Or what you will box me?" Kathy asked sarcastically.

"I might just do that," Cavil said narrowing his eyes at Kathy.

"Fighting like humans will get us nowhere, it is important to deal with all the remaining humans on the colonies and then start hunting the rest," Simon said.

"Fine, the sooner we finish this the better. I will take half of the fleet to pursue Galactica and her fleet. A small fleet of five baseships will be sent to find Prometheus and that colony of theirs. And rest of the fleet will stay here," Cavil said.


	7. 1x07 Collateral Damage

**Collateral Damage**

**A Few Days After Cylon Attack**

**Asteroid belt near Tauron...**

A badly damaged battlestar slowly moved through the asteroid belt, it had been hit so many times that it looked like could implode any second. The Battlestar Trinity, a Mercury class battlestar, believed to be destroyed, but she still survived. Trinity was one of the few modern ships that did not carry the CNP program on board, nor did her vipers. During the Cylon attack, three Baseships jumped directly on top of her and shelled the Trinity with nukes. She survived and destroyed two of the Basestars before she executed a blind jump into the asteroid belt near Tauron. In the process she hit an asteroid with her left flight pod.

**Battlestar Trinity C.I.C**

"Commander, the ship is still not in good shape sir, the chief says that we won't have jump capability for at least a few weeks, and even then it will be limited. Half of our guns were destroyed with several others damaged and out of commission and half of the ship is venting atmosphere," Colonel Sounders said.

"Casualties?" Commander Gerard asked.

"Over 950 so far, and almost every surviving member of the crew has some kind of wound sir. We also lost 43 vipers, and their pilots," Colonel Sounders reported sadly.

"Blast, we can't stay here. The Cylons will send more ships to find and finish us eventually," Commander Gerard said.

"True sir, but as they don't know where we jumped to we should have some time to make repairs and get ready for our next move," Colonel Sounders said confidently.

"But when they find only wrecks from two baseships from where they attacked us, they will know that we survived, and they will start hunting for us. The only saving grace is that the ship is already on minimal power, which will make detecting us very hard. Still, I want an ELINT raptor in the air and a few vipers patrolling. I also want us as close to the asteroids as possible, and I want to minimize all signs of our existence until we are ready to jump," Commander Gerard said.

"Can I ask where we will jump to after we repair the engines?" Colonel Sounders asked.

"The Destarious supply depot near Libra. We might find some spare parts and resources there, that is if the Cylons haven't destroyed it," Commander Gerard replied.

Cylon Occupied Caprica

There were many shelters built in the Caprican mountain ranges during the first cylon war a long time ago, many of them were now occupied by survivors, both military and civilians.

"Blast it all to hell! Without supplies we can't last for long," General O'Rilley said angrily.

"Sir, our last attack was a disaster, we lost 56 marines KIA plus 34 wounded. We failed to penetrate the Centurion perimeter," Major Brims said.

"What about Major Steele's forces?" General O'Rilley asked.

"Sir, they pushed 3km south west of Tyr base, but they lost half a dozen vehicles to get that far," Major Brims said.

"Tell Major Steele to push forward and take that base. Tyr has a lot of supplies, and there are those experimental vehicles stored there that will give us more firepower to use against the cylons," General O'Rilley said.

**50 Days After Cylon Attack**

**En route to Home **

**Battlestar Atlantis Flag Suite**

Admiral Stryker was working on some paperwork when someone knocked on the door.

"Come in," Admiral Stryker said seeing Colonel Haller walk through the door, "colonel have a seat."

"Yes sir," Colonel Haller said after he entered the room.

"Now, let's skip to the important things first. I need a Commander for the Atlantis and since you are second in command, I'm promoting you to the rank of Commander," Admiral Stryker said.

"Sir?" Colonel Haller said in surprise, his eyes going wide.

"I need a Commander with guts and you are just the man for the job. Of course it is up to you to find a candidate for your executive officer and promote him or her to Colonel. I'm thinking that won't be a problem?" Admiral Stryker said.

As soon as Admiral Stryker said that, he opened a small box that was on his desk and he gave it to Commander Haller. Inside was the Insignia for the rank of Commander.

"I don't know what to say Admiral," Commander Haller said.

"A simple thank you will be enough, that and you proving me right," Admiral Stryker said with a laugh.

"Of course, thank you sir, and I will make you proud!" Commander Haller said with a salute.

"Now to other things, Chief Walker said that the ship is receiving too much stress during each jump?" Admiral Stryker asked.

"Sir, all three ships are showing the same stress fractures with the engines at 125%. The chief does not recommend more than a few more jumps or they will overload, and if that happens we will be stuck for many weeks to months doing repairs. He would like us to take a few days without jumping to make necessary repairs and give the ships a break before we continue," Commander Haller said.

"Hmm, we can't afford to wait. We can be in the colonies today if we continue to jump at 125% of the engines power for a few more jumps, and I want to get there as soon as possible," Admiral Stryker said.

"I understand sir, but if the engines overload we will not be going anywhere very fast," Commander Haller said.

"We are only about five jumps from home. I'm sending a scout raptor to Caprica to see what is there, when it returns to our projected jump coordinates 1 jump from Caprica; we will jump there at 125% on the engines. So tell the chief to get busy with whatever preparations are needed to make it happen," Admiral Stryker said.

"Yes sir!" Commander Haller said.

**Five hours later**

**One jump away from the colonies**

**Battlestar Atlantis C.I.C.**

"Sir the scout raptor just returned," Commander Haller reported.

"And?" Admiral Stryker asked.

"They picked up three baseships in orbit and they've given us the targeting information we'll need for a strike run at them," Commander Haller said.

"Alright, all ships make preparations for a combat jump. I want to hit them hard, so let's show those baseships what they will face when it's a surprise attack on them. All vipers to the launch tubes and have marines in raptors ready to go if they are needed," Admiral Stryker ordered.

"All stations ready sir," Commander Haller said.

"Good jump in 5, 4, 3, 2, 1 jump," Admiral Stryker said.

All three ships disappeared in bright flashes, and reappeared moments later in orbit of Caprica within weapons range of the three Basestars.

Battlestar Atlantis C.I.C

"Commander, tell Pleiades to move back into a defensive position. Their anti-missile and anti-fighter capabilities will be needed; Argona is to engage baseship alpha, and we will deal with the remaining two," Admiral Stryker said.

**Baseship 38**

"Report!" Jack Cavil ordered.

"Three ships just jumped into orbit, they are Colonial, and they are moving to engage," one of the sixes replied.

"Identifications on those ships?" Cavil asked.

"One second, hmm…." One of the Sixes known as Terry said, "the Battlestars are the Pleiades, and an unknown Mercury (Atlantis), and oh my, the Warstar Argona."

"Warstar? Frak, launch all raiders, lock on the missiles and destroy them. These must be the missing ships that John is trying to find!" Cavil said.

**Battlestar Atlantis C.I.C**.

"They are launching raiders and missiles Sir!" Commander Haller said.

"Good, return the favor, tell Argona to fire at will," Admiral Stryker replied.

It was not long before Argona got in range and fired her main cannons into her designated baseship; it didn't have a chance and was destroyed after only two volleys hit the middle section, and the Basestar was blown into little pieces.

The Cylons launched a large number of missiles, almost half of them nukes. The Battlestar Pleiades did what she did best, and her defensive fire destroyed over half of the missiles before being joined together with those from Atlantis and Argona. They succeeded in destroying over 95% of the Cylon missiles, but even with all the defensive firepower of the three ships about half a dozen nukes passed through their defensive screen. All of the nukes took a heading towards the Battlestar Pleiades.

"Helm, move us in front of the Pleiades; 20 karem 3, all ahead full! Commander order for the Pleiades to break to port and intensify their defensive fire while we cover them," Admiral Stryker ordered.

The Atlantis passed directly in front of the Pleiades and just below her. The point defenses destroyed five nukes, but one slipped through.

"Hell, one of them slipped through sir, it's going to hit," Commander Haller said.

"All hands brace for impact," Admiral Stryker said.

The fifty megaton nuke hit, and caused the Battlestar Atlantis to shake violently, explosions went off all around the ship. In the blink of an eye, it seemed like the ship was vaporized. But in reality, the new armor kept out the explosion from the ship and 98% of the radiation.

Any other ship would have been extremely damaged, but Atlantis survived with only a scorched paint job.

Admiral Stryker broke his arm after hitting one of the consoles full force, and he slowly stood up again.

"Sir, are you ok?" Commander Heller asked, equally wounded.

"I'm fine. Damage report?" Admiral Stryker asked.

"Sections 12-14 are venting atmosphere, and several more sections have minor damage, but the armor managed to contain the blast. At least 25 wounded," Commander Heller said.

"Seal those sections and get damage control on it. Weapons officer, target the right baseship with all guns, fire when you're ready, and engage the one on the left with nukes. Nuke it to hell!" Admiral Sryker ordered.

"Right away sir," the weapons officer replied.

The Atlantis rolled towards the cylon baseships, firing her main cannons at one of the baseships and launching 6 nukes at the second one.

**Baseship 38**

"What it survived the nuke, blast, fire everything at it," Cavil said in panic.

The port baseship started cracking apart under so many direct hits from Atlantis' main guns, and the nukes fired from Atlantis moved toward the other baseship target at great speed.

Raiders took down two and defense fire from the baseship took out two, but the remaining two nukes hit the ship right in the central axis. The entire baseship exploded moments later in a great fiery explosion.

**Battlestar Atlantis C.I.C.**

"Good job people!" Admiral Stryker said.

"Major Morales reports, 9 vipers destroyed and only four managed to eject," Commander Haller reported.

"Good, send the SAR raptor to pick them up. Also, launch the search raptors to check all the wrecks in orbit, and the station. Scanners start searching the surface and try to locate survivors and Cylon bases. If you find any Cylon bases, destroy them with the main guns. Have the vipers land to refuel and rearm for missions to Caprica. The Cylons will be back soon, so let's be quick about it," Admiral Stryker said.

**Cylon Occupied Caprica**

"Sir you will not believe this, a satellite just picked up three ships that jumped into orbit. I turned the camera of the satellite on, and you will not believe it, but those are colonial fleet units. Sir, look!" Major Brims said excitedly.

"Colonial war ships, can you identify them?" General O'Rilley asked.

"Yes; the Battlestars are, Pleiades, a Mercury class with a transponder saying she is the Atlantis, and at first I did not believed it, but the Andraste class Warstar Argona," Major Brims said.

"Those must be some of the units sent on a special mission almost two years ago. Can you raise them on the line?" General O'Rilley asked.

"I will try, but the channels are still being jammed," Major Brims said.

"Get a distress signal out so that way they will know we are here," General O'Rilley said.

**Battlestar Atlantis C.I.C.**

"Sir, we are picking up a distress signal from Caprica. There must be survivors there!" Commander Haller said.

"Send two raptors down to the planet at the source of the signal, and have alpha viper squadron to cover them. I'm going to medical to get this arm fixed. The ship is yours Commander," Admiral Stryker said.

**Half an hour later in Medical**

"We found a group of survivors, actually a lot of them under the leadership of General O'Rilley. They're at an old decommissioned bunker complex built during the first cylon war," Commander Haller reported to Admiral Stryker over the communications line.

"How many?" Admiral Stryker asked.

"Thirty eight thousand sir, along with fifteen thousand of those being civilians that General O'Rilley is working to turn into solders. The General also said that there could be around 700,000 to one million survivors on the entire planet. Maybe even more," Commander Haller reported excitedly.

"Gods, if there are more survivors on other planets, we will not have the resources to save them all," Admiral Stryker said, "notify General O'Rilley that we will send down food and medicinal supplies, as well as small arms ammo, but he will have to hold out a little longer until I can get the ships needed to lift him and the survivors out. I can even give him a raptor and viper squadron, and 1,000 marines from these three ships if he has a place to hold them. I will also take the children, pregnant woman, and any critically injured. That should help to get up to 9,000 people off his hands. That is the best we can do at this time," Admiral Stryker said.

In the background, he heard the weapons officer calling out Cylon targets and then confirming that the heavy KEW had destroyed them. It was a bad day to be a Cylon target on Caprica.

**Cylon Occupied Caprica**

"Sir, we have a connection, it's Admiral Stryker from the Battlestar Atlantis. They're sending us supplies, but they will have to pick us later, there is something much more important for them to do right now," Major Brims said.

"What could possibly be more important?" General O'Rilley asked angrily.

"They said there are more colonial units out there, and they need to find them. This will allow them to get what they need to lift us out of Caprica and take the fight to the Cylons," Major Brims said.

"Frak, okay, we will hold, and then I will stick my boot in the Admirals ass when they finally arrive again," General O'Rilley said quietly.

"Sir, we are getting reports from the front line that the Atlantis is destroying Cylon bases from orbit, and raptors and vipers are attacking centurions anywhere they can be found. This should take the pressure off of us for a while. We have shuttles, raptors, and vipers inbound for the base. The shuttles are bringing in combat vehicles, supplies and the raptors are bringing in the marines and their supplies. We should be able to unload the materials and reload the evacuation personnel in just over an hour. This will let us get 8,541 non-combatants out of the way, which is no small gift to the medical teams. Also, the addition of the raptors and vipers will let us plan and accomplish a greater number of missions against the Cylons, such as the rescue of more of the civilians that are in areas that the Cylons control," Major Brims said.

**Cylon Space, Baseship 01**

In the large command room, all cylon models were assembled with John Cavil in the front of the room bursting with anger over the latest news.

"So we have three more colonial ships returned from a mission unknown to us? And one of them is a Warstar! A fracking Warstar," John Cavil said.

"We didn't know. The information was not in the defense mainframe, so we believed it to be an old battlestar or Gunstar at most," one of two Dorals in the room said.

"Didn't know, didn't know? Just as you didn't know about the survival of the Battlestars Prometheus, Eternal, Concordia and the other Battlestars and support ships? We don't even know where their ships are!" John Cavil said angrily.

"Actually, we might know the location soon," one of the number eights said.

"Really? Just as you did with the Battlestar Prometheus," John Cavil said.

"That was a mistake," the number eight continued, "They have two Nova class Battlestars Prometheus and Nova, the Mercury class Eternal, Odin class Celestial, and the first war Columbia Battlestar Ares - which we believed was lost. Still, we did badly damage the Celestial and that's enough for now."

"No, no it is not enough. There are five Battlestars under Admiral Turners command, a fully functional mobile space station, and over 600,000 survivors. Shall I continue?" John Cavil said, staring hatefully at the number eight like he would kill her that instant, "then we have Galactica and her fleet plus three Gunstars that she met at Ragnar. Plus the Battlestar Pegasus under that insane Admiral Cain, and Cain will ruin our plans if given even half a chance."

"True, but Pegasus is not here in the Cyrannus system anymore. There are indications that they are following our fleet that's chasing the Battlestar Galactica fleet," Doral interrupted.

"Yes, and finally we have a large amount of colonial warships at an unknown location with an unknown support structure. We don't know what they are doing as we have not heard from our agents, and none of them have resurrected. So what are they up to? We know nothing except that they have been successfully raiding us for the last few weeks. That fleet saved over 700,000 humans so far from the Colonies. And there's between fifty and two hundred million survivors spread out over the colonies. And to add to our troubles, we have dozens of captured colonial warships to gather up and move to the shipyard over Libra to keep them out of the enemies hands," John Cavil said.

"To add to this problem we have over 400,000 colonial military POWs in our camps. And our Centurions are fighting survivors wherever they find them. Their numbers are decreasing slowly, though the good news for us is that there's still the option of radiation poisoning - in a year or two there will be no human left alive. It will all go as planned," D'Anna Biers said.

"Those deep shelters, and bunkers they constructed during the last war will hold them for years, and they will continue their guerrilla attacks against us. And yet, we can't level the planet when we need them. To add a cherry on top, we now have three more colonial warships; the Battlestars Pleiades, Atlantis, and the fracking Warstar Argona. We can't allow those ships to join up with either of those groups. This entire plan was fracked from the start," John Cavil said.

"I told you!" Kathy said with a wide smile.

"You shut up, I can see that you are enjoying this," John Cavil said.

"Of course I am; from the start I said this was a major mistake. If we left the humans alone without this genocide we've done, everything would have been all right. Now you may have doomed us. You see Cavil, maybe the humans provoked us once or twice, but they didn't have any intention of attacking us. Now, thanks to your megalomaniacal stupidity, everything has been fracked up," Kathy said.

"No sister, it has not all failed. We still have the upper hand in this. We will find the colonials and wipe them all out. I'm departing with 20 additional baseships and several supply ships to join our fleet searching for Galactica, and I'm appointing my brother Jack to replace me while I'm gone. I will also take one of the two Resurrection hubs, one Resurrection ship, and the Colony with me," John Cavil said.

"The colony, are you mad!" Leoben said outraged.

"We can't build more ships if you take it, only the colony can produce hybrids!" Doral protested.

"You have more than enough ships to hold the colonies. Janice will take a few baseships to track down and destroy the Prometheus' fleet. All other ships will focus on tracking and destroying the main colonial group. Our main mobile facility can produce baseships without the colony in small numbers while we are gone. Doral, your brother has taken the Dreadstar; it's escorted by two heavy baseships and four standard ones, and I think he will enjoy hunting the colonial remnants with those ships," John Cavil said.

"What about those two Battlestars and the dozens of other colonial warships in orbit of the Aerelon moon? Why are we keeping them?" Doral asked.

"Jack has plans for those ships. I was against it, but he assured me that he can use them," John Cavil replied.

As soon as he finished talking, Cavil left the room.

"He is completely nuts," Kathy, who was the first to speak, said.

"I trust in his plans," Doral said.

"Of course you do, what else would you do without him? But look at the situation. We have lost half of our Basestars and support stars in the opening of the war, and a third of those that remain will be in the yard hands for many months to a year to be repaired. And now he wishes to split the remaining fleet to chase down the survivors which will only make us more vulnerable to attacks. Just think about that while you are kissing his boots," Kathy said contemptuously.

**10 minutes later**

**Main Hangar Bay**

"You know, if the Cavils find out about what we are doing, they will box us," Leoben said, "I put my brother in my place to go with Cavil."

"Don't worry, he will find out too late to do anything about it," Kathy said.

"What about the Battlestar Trinity? Why did you not report that she survived?" Leoben asked.

"Because I wanted her to survive; the colonials could use one more battlestar, and it will piss the Cavils off," Kathy said.

"Hmm, I don't know how much it will help them. She's a wreck, she was lucky destroying those two baseships, but she is a complete wreck – barely still alive. Maybe we can get her help?" Leoben said.

"But never mind the Trinity for now, we must get to the colonial ships," Kathy said.

"But we don't even know where they are?" Leoben said.

"Oh but we do. Do you know anything about the Olympia class stations?" Kathy asked.

"Yes, six stations were built 25 years ago, 4 were decommissioned and scrapped about five years ago, and two were destroyed in the opening of this war," Leoben said.

"Well two of those stations; the Olympia and Lobo Negro, still exist, Doral and Janice didn't succeed in stopping Lobo Negro from jumping into the Veil of Athena nebula. She's getting away to safety, but the second station is still here in colonial space," Kathy said.

"Yes but where?" Leoben asked.

"Only place possible is the Red Horse nebula; one of most violent nebulas at in region, it is dangerous for Cylons but not for humans. If they're anywhere, they are in that nebula hiding and it is only matter of time before some of our brothers and sisters die there from radiation poisoning and download again. They will give the location of the colonial units instantly," Kathy said.

"And what do you want to do Kathy, simply go there?" Leoben asked incredulously.

"Yes, since I need your heavy raider, you are coming with me," Kathy said shortly.

"Great and how will you explain our absence?" Leoben asked.

"Leave that to me. Does your raider still have stealth armor on it?" Kathy asked.

Leoben nodded.

"Good, we're leaving as soon as possible. Until then we'll gather supporters and intel the colonials can use," Kathy said.

Asteroid belt near Tauron...

**Battlestar Trinity C.I.C.**

"Colonel what is the status of the ship? Can we jump?" Commander Gerard asked as soon as he entered C.I.C..

"Well sir, we can. We fixed a majority of the holes and damaged sections with what supplies we have, but not the main energizer. We will have only one jump sir, as it takes too long to recharge the FTL with the secondarys," Colonel Sounders replied.

"After almost two months, all we have is one jump?" Commander Gerard asked dumbfounded.

"Sir that is all that we can do. We tried to get some supplies from nearby depots, but they're all crawling with raiders," Colonel Sounders said.

"Hmm, ok, we can jump only once before the main energizer dies again. Where do you have in mind to jump to Colonel?" Commander Gerard asked.

"Destarious supply depot sir," Colonel Sounders said, "there are resources that we could use, and even a Hephaestus class drydock that could fix most of our damage. The raptors say it hasn't been hit yet; probably because it is a small civilian scrapping yard and supply depot."

"Isn't that depot where that old pre-cylon war Dreadstar Henchantories is?" Commander Gerard asked.

"Yes sir," Colonel Sounders said.

"Alright, make preparations for the jump. But first, send a raptor to look around. I don't want Cylon raiders with nukes near my ship colonel," Commander Gerard said.

Red Horse Nebula Olympia Station Flag Suite

"So Commander, you have some reports for me?" Admiral Thorn asked.

"Yes, sir; so far there are no complaints about space, all the civilians and military personnel have enough food and water, and we are also doing our best as far as health care. Both shipyards are working in optimal conditions; since there were only 12,000 people on each shipyard instead of the standard 25,000, we are adding as many civilians into the shipyards as possible. As you know, each shipyard has space for over 50,000 people, and can also take as many as 100,000 if necessary. All recovered Battlestars are now in an operational condition. The Concordia is fully repaired and rearmed. Victorious is still docked to the shipyard, but she will be done within the week. Thanks to many of the military personal we rescued so far, from the wrecks and from the planets, we can man all our ships with full crew complements. Including the Warstar Daedalus and the Battlestar Theseus. As a side note, there are also a lot of civilians that want to enlist in the military, so we are not having a problem with personnel so far. The Battlestar Polaris is also being fixed and will be ready in a month," Commander Corgon reported.

"Now to the more important part of this report sir, we have almost 50 cases of radiation poisoning," Commander Corgon said.

"Radiation poisoning?" Admiral Thorn asked surprised.

"Yes sir but that is not all; after we started taking care of them, we realized that they're all almost the same exact people," Commander Corgon said uncomfortably.

"You are babbling Commander, what are you talking about?" Admiral Thorn asked.

"Sir, we found several copies of the same people. Look at these photos," Commander Corgon said, showing photos of all the people that were reported to have radiation poisoning.

"They look the same!" Admiral Thorn exclaimed.

"Yes sir, and one of the blondes, calls herself a six, says she wants to talk to you," Commander Corgon said.

"Me? Why?" Admiral Thorn asked.

"She said that all those that are sick, including herself, are Cylons sir. Human versions of Cylons," Commander Corgon said.

"Hmm, that helps explain the CNP virus and the sabotage in the fleet at the outbreak of this war. Bring her in with a full security detail," Admiral Thorn said.

Half an hour later, the Six entered the Admirals office to see the Admiral behind his desk, where he had a revolver in the desk.

"So, you wanted to talk with me?" Admiral Thorn asked.

"Yes Admiral," the tall blond woman replied.

"And you are?" Admiral Thorn asked.

"My name is Cally, or number six, whichever you prefer to call me," Cally said.

"And you are a Cylon?" Admiral Thorn asked, wanting to hear her say she was a Cylon so he could finally accept the truth for himself.

"Yes Admiral; myself and all those that you have found with radiation poisoning are Cylons," Cally said.

"And what do you want of me, and what is stopping me from throwing you and all those others out an airlock?" Admiral Thorn asked angrily.

"Well Admiral, I have data that you can use against the Cylons," Cally said.

"Why would you share this with me?" Admiral Thorn asked suspiciously.

"Admiral, not all Cylons wanted, or voted, to attack and destroy the twelve colonies of Kobol. Many of us were against it. But first, let me say that there are seven models of us. It was lucky that thanks to this nebula we all got sick and revealed ourselves, and this was unintentional of course," Cally said.

"You did not answer my question. Why do you want share your knowledge with me?" Admiral Thorn asked.

"Because Admiral, I want asylum. The ones started this foolish war, in your terms it is not even a war: it was genocide. And I admit, you have the right and good reason not to trust me. But you see, the Cylons have evolved and create a hive mind for their society. All seven models, or at least a majority, must vote for something to be done. Unfortunately, a majority of Cylons voted for the attack. But a smaller part voted against; we want to help, and we know that humans are not perfect, but we are not perfect either," Cally said, taking a deep breath before continuing, "Unfortunately there was one of the ones called John Cavil; he and his entire line were the masterminds of this attack. Admiral I know it is hard to listen but please."

"And if I refuse?" Admiral Thorn asked.

"If you refuse, you think we will die from the radiation? But that's not correct. You see, once our bodies die, our minds will be transferred into another body. We will live, and many of those you have here will report back to the ones about your location, the number of ships, and about this station. Sooner or later a Cylon fleet will come here in large numbers, no matter what the radiation will do to their forces in the short term. You know as well as I do, that you can't survive without supplies from the rest of the system very long here," Cally said.

"We have enough for 20 years," Admiral Thorn said bluffing. In truth the total fleet had only enough resources for 2 to 3 years.

"And then what? The Cylons can wait, can you Admiral?" Cally asked.

"And if I give you what you want, asylum for you, what would we do with the others?" Admiral Thorn asked.

"Put them in the brig if you must; put them somewhere where they will be safe, and where they can't hurt themselves. They are ready to kill themselves knowing they will not die, but they will reveal this location to the others," Cally said.

"Alright, I need to think about this," Admiral Thorn said.

"Think fast admiral, many of them will realize that you found out who they are, and they will become hostile, or they will try to harm themselves. You won't be able to stop them all, so you need to act fast," Cally said.

In that moment the doors opened and a Lieutenant entered the room.

"Sir, three ships just jumped into the entrance of the nebula, and they are colonial," the Lieutenant reported.

**In Front Of Red Horse Nebula**

Battlestar Atlantis and her escorts Pleiades and Argona had finally reached their destination. They jumped directly in front of the entrance to the hidden base in the Red **Horse nebula.**

**Battlestar Atlantis C.I.C**

"Jump complete sir," Commander Haller said.

"Good, move us in, and start transmitting our ID. I don't want to be shot at by our own units," Admiral Stryker replied.

Atlantis started moving forward, when suddenly six ships appeared.

"Sir, six ships just appeared. Identifications are Battlestars Caprica and Titan, and four Titan II Gunstars. Now that is some welcoming committee. Caprica is requesting our authorization," Commander Haller said.

"Good, send it," Admiral Stryker said.

"They confirmed our ID, we are free to pass sir," the communications officer reported a few moments later.

"Good, take us in," Admiral Stryker ordered.

Atlantis and her two escort ships started moving deeper into the nebula slowly. Caprica and her escort ships resumed their original posts in the shadows near the entrance. It took ten full minutes before Atlantis finally emerged from the cloud into what would be only described as a large city in space. Hundreds of ships were placed around an Olympia class Station and a Hera class Station, which should have been in the Hera scrapping junkyard. Then to the side there were two unknown mobile shipyards that floated near the stations. Each of them was like a gigantic space station even bigger than Picon HQ.

A full detail of security vipers and raptors stood in formation with the new trio of ships. In sign of respect and welcome, the civilians on the nearby ships stood in shock while observing the newcomers. They all had thought that the ships that were here were all that survived.

**Battlestar Atlantis C.I.C**

"Lieutenant, contact Olympia station, and request permission to dock," Admiral Stryker said.

"Yes sir," the communications officer replied.

A few minutes later, Atlantis was safely docked into one of the piers next to Battlestar Victorious. Argona and Pleiades stood near the station.

**Olympia Station Flag Suite**

"Welcome to Olympia Admiral," Admiral Thorn said.

"Thank you. Well, I must say that I'm surprised at just how many ships survived," Admiral Stryker said, "but if you don't have anything against it, I would like a report on all the ships currently here. I like reading."

"Of course. I think you will need a long time to read all of it. Are you up for a glass of ambrosia?" Admiral Thorn asked.

"That is something I will not pass up. Sure," Admiral Stryker said grinning.

"Well from ensign to admiral in 6 years, that is a record," Admiral Thorn said after he drank some ambrosia.

"Nagala did it in five years, so he still bears the record," Admiral Stryker said.

"True. I knew your father well. He was a fine man, and did not deserve to die in a car crash," Admiral Thorn said.

"Accidents happen, but it's better that way I suppose," Admiral Stryker said.

"Well, Admiral Nagala found a good man to lead the survivors to Avalon Mark, and that's you," Admiral Thorn said.

"I still don't understand why he chose me, I mean you have more experience than me, and if anyone deserves it, it's you," Admiral Stryker said.

"My post is here in R&D, luckily more than half survived the war and the best part at that. My duty is here with this station and those shipyards. But you are a natural leader and tactician, so do not doubt yourself. You are one of the youngest admirals in the history of the colonial fleet, and your aggressiveness and tactics will lead all these people here to their new home. When Admiral Nagala told me to wait for your arrival, he had a good reason. I am in the military and I'm an Admiral, but I am more of a scientist and engineer than a combat officer," Admiral Thorn said.

"Now you flatter me. Admiral Nagala was a good friend and good officer, I will carry out his orders, but after we get to Avalon I'm going to retire," Admiral Stryker said smiling.

"Retire? Are you mad, you have 35 years ahead of you? I don't want to hear about retirement, your father was a good friend, and you know how he would react if heard the word retirement," Admiral Thorn said.

"Yeah, I know. So shall we get to business?" Admiral Stryker asked.

"I will send you a report so you can see what we have, and how many people we have. We will have time to introduce you to everyone later. We will talk after you have had a chance to get some rest, you do look like hell Mark," Admiral Thorn said.

"I always look that way," Admiral Stryker said.

1 hour later

**Battlestar Atlantis Meeting Room**

Admiral Stryker was alone in his room, looking at portraits from various landscapes on the 12 colonies; once a beautiful place, but now the planets were in ruins.

A knocking on the door drew the Admirals attention.

"Come in," Admiral Stryker said.

Commander Haller entered the room.

"Sir, here is the full report on the current assets in the colonial fleet," Commander Haller said.

"Good, start with the military units first," Admiral Stryker replied, still watching the landscapes.

"Yes sir, I added our ships to this report with the exception of those in orbit of Avalon. We have two Mercury class Battlestars Atlantis and Polaris, the Polaris was supposed to be scrapped due to damage she suffered some time before the attack, and now she has been repaired to return her to active service. We have three Minerva class Battlestars the Minerva, Pleiades, and Hades, and two of these are from the reserve fleet. All three are in combat condition, with full crews. There are three Valkyrie class Battlestars the Valkyrie, Caprica, and Poseidon, also all three are fully operational and fully manned," Commander Haller reported.

"Commander you said Poseidon, she survived?" Admiral Stryker asked.

"Yes sir, she was orbiting Olympia station at the time of attack sir. I also checked about your sister Melinda, she survived and she's CAG on board the Poseidon. Unfortunately, your younger brother Matthew died when the Battlestar Mercury exploded in the battle over Virgon sir. Do you want me to re-assign your sister to Atlantis?" Commander Haller asked.

"No, let her stay where she is. She is an excellent pilot and they need her. I will visit her later. Continue," Admiral Stryker said.

"There are four Columbia II Battlestars in the fleet starting with the Titan, Athena, Cerberus and Rycon, all fully operational and crewed, and Rycon is one of the command versions. Battlestar Concordia is one of those new Skinfaxi class strike Battlestars and she is fully operational, the only downside is her crew has 2,200 instead of the standard 2,400 though that's more than enough for now. There is also Battlestar Victorious; she is the only Battlestar to build fully on the Durga specifications, so she's called the Durga class. She has four landing bays like the Mercury class instead of the standard two. She is fully operational with a full crew. There's the Daedalus class Warstar Daedalus which is operational and fully manned, and of course we have Argona. Then there's the Battlestar Theseus; she's an experimental version of the Nova class, with 8 pods instead of 4 and new weapons and armor. The final two Battlestars are not colonial navy, but Guard units belonging to the Aerelon and Virgon guard. They are the Battlestars Freedom and Independence, and they are both of the Geneva class. Only four were built and all four were decommissioned and made available to any guard unit that could afford the price tag. The Aerelon and Virgon guards got one each, and the other two were scrapped. Both ships went through a SLEP (service life extension program) and were brought up to modern standards about five years ago, but due to budget restrictions they could not get the CNP program. Thank the gods for small favors. They are fully manned and have a full viper wing," Commander Haller said.

"17 Battlestars, and 2 Warstars, my gods," Admiral Stryker said in shock.

"Yes sir and from the intelligence flights in the colonies, there could be as many as a dozen Battlestars that could be salvaged if we chose to go after them," Commander Haller said, "and that is not all sir, not even close. Those two shipyards we saw, there are mobile sir. Eternity and Unity are both capable of sustaining a fleet twice the size of this fleet for years and can build any new ship we need, from a Gunstar to a Warstar sir. There are also two Hephaestus class mobile docks from the Militech Corporation and they are fully functional sir. There are two Berzerk support ships Sandstorm and Tauron, two Harrier class Strikestars, Harrier and Crusher and a Vanguard class raptor Carrier Arakiel. Then for supporting ships; we have ten Titan II Gunstars (Stiletto, Thaddeus, Calamity, Sturgeon, Stargazer, Redeemer, Albatross, Resurgence, Avenger, and Aggressive), 2 Hoplite class Battle Cruisers (Hoplite and Venitrix), 4 Heavy Cruisers (Cataphract, Javelin, Aether and Adder), 5 Byzantine class Light Cruisers (Byzantine, Persia, Agamemnon, Ares and Argos), 5 Phalanx class Destroyers (Phalanx, Gauntlet, Gearing, Anubis and Archer), 9 Dagger class Patrolstars (Dagger, Hunter, Crossbow, Persy, Gimble, Artemis, Avenger, Baldr, and Ceros), 12 Defender class Gunstars (Tigris, Claw, Storm, Altair, Modesto, Hook, Taurus, Harpy, Raven, Tower, Bruiser and Fury), 2 Vigilant class Gunstars ( Sournier, and Hale), 3 Striker class heavy Gunstars (Striker, Avarice, and Starfury), and 1 Cygnus class heavy Gunstar Styx. There's also twelve Firestar class frigates, and four additional Fury class Strikestar, but these last 16 ships need to be put into the docks and refitted and crewed before we can use them."

"I be damned," Admiral Stryker said.

"That is main report sir; would you want to know about the civilians sir?" Commander Haller asked.

"No, I can read that for myself, this is too many surprises at once," Admiral Stryker said, happily shocked at the list of surviving colonial military.

"There are a few more things Admiral. Admiral Thorn sent a raptor to Ragnar to catch the Battlestar Galactica, but she was already gone. They found the wreck of a baseship at the entrance of the Ragnar nebula. Raptor crews tapped into the security computers of the station and Galactica has some 75 to 80 civilian ships with her, and three Defender class Gunstars. They are heading into the Promar sector. Then there's the Battlestar Pegasus, which also somehow survived the attack," Commander Haller said.

"Cain," Admiral Stryker said fuming silently.

"Yes sir, it appears Admiral Cain survived too. There are also more ships that survived the war. The Battlestars Prometheus, Nova, Eternal, and Celestial along with their escorts were last reported near the Veil of Athena where the Cylons lost two baseships, and those colonial units took Lobo Negro station. Admiral Thorn reported that they found the wreckage of the Battlestar Andromeda, sir, she was destroyed near Scorpia. They had thought she survived the attack, but it was not so. Also, there are last three sections sir. First, it's believed that 10 Gunstars that were supposed to establish a mining operation in the Taurus system may still be alive," Commander Haller said.

"Taurus system? But that is close to the Cylon border outside Cyrannus," Admiral Stryker said.

"Yes sir. Admiral Thorn believes those units are still alive; 7 Defender class Gunstars, 2 Striker class Gunstars, and 1 command Titan II Gunstar. Also, the Battlestar Trinity survived, or at least there are no reports in the Cylon broadcasts that it has been destroyed. Some of Admiral Thorns people tapped into the Cylon transmissions. And the final thing sir, there were two Battlestars still out there that survived; the Chimera and Vanguard, both Mercury class, and their current location is unknown. And that's it more or less," Commander Haller said.

"Thank you Commander, now I need to process this information to see what we will do next. Set up a meeting on Olympia station for 1800 tomorrow, and have all officers of Colonel rank or higher at the meeting and ready to talk about what we need to do next to get these people to safety and to look at saving those still on the colonies," Admiral Stryker said.

"Yes sir," Commander Haller said.

Commander Haller left the reports on the desk and left the room, leaving Admiral Stryker alone to his thoughts, and after a few moments Admiral Stryker took the reports and started reading them, looking intently at the full list.

**Military section**

**BATTLESTARS (17)**  
>Theseus Upgraded Nova class: Theseus (2150)<br>Mercury class: Polaris (2250), Atlantis (2410)  
>Minerva class: Minerva (2500), Pleiades (2500), Hades (2250)<br>Valkyrie class: Valkyrie (1520), Poseidon (1510), Caprica (1480)  
>Skinfaxi class: Concordia (2200)<br>Durga class: Victorious (2300)  
>Columbia II class: Titan (2305), Athena (2320), Cerberus (2200), Rycon (2400)<br>Geneva II class: Freedom (3500) Independence (3500)

Atlas class: Sword (1750)

**WARSTARS (2)  
><strong>Daedalus class: Daedalus (2700)  
>Andraste class: Argona (4000)<p>

**BATTLECRUISERS (2)  
><strong>Hoplite class: Hoplite (1200), Venitrix (1200)

**HEAVY CRUISERS (4)  
><strong>Cataphract class: Cataphract (850), Javelin (850), Aether (850), Adder (850)

**GUNSTARS (28)  
><strong>Titan II class: Stiletto (800), Thaddeus (800), Calamity (744), Sturgeon (800), Stargazer (800), Redeemer (820), Albatross (802), Resurgence (800), Avenger (710), Aggressive (805).  
>Defender class: Tigris (550), Claw (550), Storm (550), Altair (459), Modesto (551), Hook (500), Taurus (550), Harpy (550), Raven (520), Tower (450), Brusser (500), Fury (502).<br>Vigilant class: Sournier (450), Hale (412).  
>Striker class: Striker (900), Avarice (900), Starfury (900).<br>Cygnus class: Styx (600).

**LIGHT CRUISERS (5)**  
>Byzantine class: Byzantine (500), Persia (500) Agamemnon (500), Ares (500), Argos (500).<p>

**STEALTHSTAR (1)**  
>Banshee class: Banshee (800).<p>

**STRIKESTARS (3 + 4)**  
>Harrier class: Harrier (800), Crasher (820).<br>Fury class: Aventine (400), (plus 4).

**DESTROYERS**  
>Phalanx class: Phalanx (400) Gauntlet (400), Gearing (400), Anubis (400), Archer (400).<p>

**FIRESTARS (2 +12)**  
>Hawkeye class: Hawking (700), Star Rider (700), (Plus 12).<p>

**ESCORTSTARS and PARTOLSTARS (12)**  
>Berzerk class: Sandstorm (1050), Tauron (1020).<br>Vanguard class: Arakiel (600).  
>Dagger class: Dagger (350), Hunter (350), Crossbow (350), Persy (350) Gimble (350), Artemis (350), Avenger (350), Baldr (350), Ceros (350).<p>

**MOBILE DOCKS AND SHIPYARDS**  
>Hephaestus class: Hephaestus (3000), Forge (3015)<br>Unity class: Unity (12540), Eternity (12000)  
>Olympia class: Olympia (7000)<br>Hera class: Hera (3000)

**ELINT SHIPS (5)**  
>Searcher class: Everest (600), Star Chaser (600), Wisdom ( 700), Night Shadow (640), Vision (900).<p>

Military Total: 126,350

Civilian Section

22 Mining ships; Calkota (450), Taranis (500), Echa (400), Stryd (400), Wind Fury (450), Black Elk (500), Mining Dreamer (490), Colar (400), Erbal (440), Tauron Miner 4 (500), Tauron Miner 7 (400), Carol (440), Dark Miner (440), Falk (400), Caprican Miner (540), Miner 7 (400), Miner 8 (400), Miner 15 (450), Miner 18 (400), Miner 20 (400), Howard (450), Blacken (340).

7 Refinery ships: Taren (600), Tylium Maker (509), Tylium Maker 8 (450), Batista (550), Saladin (800), Aventis (600), Fusilier (550).

5 Medical Transports: Miracle (980), Hiding Star (850), Wallace (900), Mercurial (850), Demonical (800).

3 Medical Ships: Mercy (900), Forgiveness (890), Brightstar (990).

29 Colonial Heavy transports (Different versions): 50,000

5 Mobile shipyards: 30,000

210 Freighters: 205,000

35 Cold Storage ships: 12,000

130 Luxury Liners: 150,000

10 Prison Ships: 20,000 (3,500 prisoners)

35 Agricultural Ships: 86,100

30 Research Ships: 60,000

9 Recycling ships: 1,000

50 Heavy Cargo ships: 100,000

40 Standard Passenger Lines: 40,000

12 Supply ships: 30,000

50 Colonial Mover transports: 90,000

4 former training ships: 40,000

15 Flattops: 30,000

42 Civilian transports: 56,000

45 Cloud type luxury liners: 90,000

14 Tanker ships: 7,000

Civilian Total: 1,117,909

Total both: 1,244,259

When Admiral Styrker read the last number, he just mumbled, "My gods, so many plus those on the colonies, I need a drink!"


	8. 1x08 Calm Before the Storm

**Calm Before the Storm  
><strong>  
><strong>2 Days After Arrival Of Battlestar Atlantis And Her Escorts...<strong>

**Olympia Station Conference Room**

There were a lot of people inside the conference room, most of them military Commanders and a few others.

"Ladies and Gentlemen please be seated," Admiral Stryker said after he entered the room together with Admiral Thorn and Commander Haller.

"I will get straight to business," Admiral Stryker said as he sat down, "there are several objectives we need to accomplish before we leave the colonies for Avalon."

"Leaving the colonies, sir?" Commander Erickson of the Battlestar Caprica asked.

"Yes, once we finish our jobs here we are going straight to Avalon. From there we can plan any further moves. This was the last order given to me by Admiral Nagala, and I quote _Get as many survivors as possible to safety_," Admiral Stryker said.

"What about all the survivors still on the colonies?" Commander Clark of the Concordia asked.

"They are included in one of our objectives, so I will tell you what our priorities are for now. Our first priority is to check every surplus yard, depot, storage yard, civilian yard, and installation for more ships - civilian and military. We're looking for as many ships as possible that we can use to evacuate more of our people that are still in the colonies. Those ships that are operable but damaged will be sent to the shipyards Eternity and Unity for repairs. Every ship that can fly will be appreciated and will mean more lives saved in the end. Several of our Gunstars will be charged with this job as they can get in and out in the smallest amount of time possible without being noticed by the cylons. Once they find them, extra engineering crews they will be carrying will then board the found ships along with marines and get them powered up and ready to go, assuming if it is safe to do so. The Gunstars can dock with damaged ships and use their FTL drives to jump them back to our holding area for repairs, but I caution the Captains of those Gunstars that their crews are not replaceable, so the gain had better be a good one or I will have them piloting a trash shuttle for their next command. I trust that I make myself very clear?" Admiral Stryker said.

"Sir, yes Sir!" the group said.

"The second task will be for the Battlestar Caprica. I want her and her escorts to find the missing Gunstars mentioned in the intelligence reports that I received from Admiral Thorn. With them, we can protect the civilians and the stations better while still maintaining our operational status. Commander Erickson, I want those ships; so please find them and get them back to us. Of course, all ships should consider it a secondary mission to try to find any survivors they run into and escort them back here, but don't let that impede your primary mission. If the need arises, have one of your escorts bring them back. I also want raptors to check all colonial installations, outpost, former outposts, mining facility, and docks. And I think that we should place special emphasis around Tauron, Virgon, Caprica, and any other major battle site for whatever we can salvage. I would like to find the Battlestar Trinity if she is still alive as well since we could use another Battlestar," Admiral Stryker said.

"The Trinity survived?" Commander Elkins from the Battlestar Titan asked.

"As far as we have been able to determine from Cylon communication intercepts, she was damaged, but the Cylons cannot confirm that she was destroyed. So we need to find her before they do. The next task that we need to tackle is how we are going to rescue the military personnel and civilians from Cylon prisoner of war camps located all around the colonies. This will open up the possibility to crew the ships we find and or take from the Cylons, as well as give us a chance of taking this war back to the Cylons in the future. And let's not forget that this will also allow us to get those military personnel back to those Warships that the Cylons have parked on the dark side of the Aerelon moon. I really want the Battlestars Chimera and Vanguard. Those two Mercury class Battlestars, plus their support ships, will help us a lot in the coming guerilla war we will have to fight, and if I'm correct there are some marine ships in the mix as well. General O'Rilley will need those ships to help get his troops off of Caprica when the time comes. You see finding more ships that we can use is one of our top priorities. Thanks to Admiral Thorn's Stealthstar Banshee, and other classified sources (Cylon traitor), we were able to break the Cylon communications network. So now we know what they are planning and we are working on locating more Colonial fleet survivors. We know that there are a lot of survivors left on the colonies, some in POW camps, and others hiding in the mountains. Mainly, there is General O'Rilley on Caprica who is leading a guerilla campaign against the Cylons, and I want to help him and his troops, as well as to get those civilians out of there as soon as possible," Admiral Stryker said

"How many people are we talking about to retrieve from the colonies?" Commander Clark asked.

"From several hundred thousand to as many as thirty million people," Admiral Stryker said.

"But we don't have the space or the ships for all those people Admiral," Commander Erika Banner of the Battlestar Polaris said sadly.

"That's why I want as many ships as possible rescued from any yard, station, or depot. Anything that can carry our people will help us. So for now, I want to get as many of our people loaded into as few hulls as possible for the two month trip to Avalon. We will send the Hera and Olympia Stations, and every other ship that will be on no real use to us here. We will look at turning any empty containers into living spaces for the trip to Avalon as this will allow us to empty some more ships to help us here in the colonies in order to rescue and evacuate more of our people," Admiral Stryker said.

"What about health care, water, and food supplies?" Commander Thomas from the Battlestar Athena asked.

"We can handle food and water supplies for now," Admiral Thorn said, "we can even take care of any medical problems for now. Unfortunately, we do not have a military medical ship at this point, but we have very large sickbays on both the Mobile shipyards and here on the stations. We will be fine for now. We have several agro ships and fleet rations, as well as a large supply of water, which can all last several years if rationed well enough. We will also try to save as much livestock as we can find as they can be of use later on Avalon. So you can see we have food and water and even health care, but space is our biggest enemy right now."

"I know that these are hard times and we have all lost someone, but we need to move forward. We cannot stay here. These worlds are graveyards for now and for the foreseeable future while they recover from nuclear fallout, and with the Cylons around we can't do what we want until the civilians are in a safe location. Even with all of our ships, we will need a miracle to beat them. They still have hundreds of ships in and around the Cyrannus system, along with all of their shipyard facilities intact to start producing more ships in the future. The only advantage we have at this point is the element of surprise, and from the intelligence we have on the Cylons, they will not be expecting us to go on any type of offensive. So that in a way is what we are going to do. In a limited way, we are going to do some smash and grab missions to give the Cylons a fit and get us the ships and people we need," Admiral Stryker said.

"What about the Battlestars Galactica, Pegasus, or Prometheus and their groups?" Commander Thompson from the Warstar Argona asked.

"Since we don't know where the Galactica and Pegasus are, we cannot mount a search of any type for now. We need all the ships that we have to protect the fleet, and arrange small smash and grab missions to rescue ships and people from the colonies. As for the Prometheus; for now we will not even try to find them as there are a large number of Cylon baseships between us and their possible location. Additionally, if they have colonized the Copernicus colony we will not risk helping the Cylons find them, and for all we know they could already be destroyed. So in short, we will continue with the mission that Admiral Nagala gave us and only pursue these other ships if we can and as is safe for us to do so. I know that this will not set well with all of you, and trust me when I say that I do not like it either, but we have to do what will be the most helpful for the many even at the expense of the few. We are facing a war of genocide and this means we have to save as many as we can. So we will send our people and the space stations ahead to Avalon as this will free us up to be a mobile force based out of the mobile shipyards, and this will give Avalon two fully functioning armed shipyard stations and a head start on setting up the defenses of Avalon prior to our arrival. At this point, I'm opening the floor to any discussions," Admiral Stryker said.

The meeting lasted for another hour until finally all the discussions were over. Admiral Stryker was moving through the corridors, looking to return to Atlantis so that he could get some sleep, when he was intercepted by Admiral Thorn.

"Well, well, I didn't see you for the last half hour. What was up with you sneaking out of that meeting?" Admiral Stryker asked.

"I never like those officer meetings, but that is not why I am here. I'm here because the civilians are starting to protest; they want to form a government," Admiral Thorn said amused.

"Government? Great that's all we need now," Admiral Stryker said exasperated.

"And a quorum of twelve," Admiral Thorn said.

"Fine, let them form it if that is what they want, but be sure to tell them that the military is still in charge. We will remain under martial law until we return to Avalon and a permanent seat of government can be built. Anything else?" Admiral Stryker asked.

"Yeah, there is one good thing, look at these," Admiral Thorn said, handing Admiral Stryker a few papers with pictures.

"It looks like an unfinished battlestar, where did you get these pictures?" Admiral Stryker asked.

"One of our AWACS raptors found it on patrol near Caprica. It was in a support dock of a cargo outpost; the outpost was heavily damaged during the attacks, but the dock remains in one piece, along with this ship. From what we've found out; it's supposed to be the Battlestar Sleipnir, and she's a Skinfaxi class Battlestar, the same class that the Battlestar Concordia belongs to," Admiral Thorn said.

"Those new ones?" Admiral Stryker asked.

"Yes, she was an ELINT ship. An AWACS Battlestar capable of detecting movement in almost the entire Cyrannus system, first ever built on a Skinfaxi frame, or at least the first ever battlestar of that kind with those abilities," Admrial Thorn said.

"Hmm, an unfinished battlestar. Well, we can definitely use it of course, but we will not do anything for now. Once we go to rescue General O'Rilley, I suppose we can take one of the mobile docks with us and put this unfinished Sleipnir into it," Admiral Stryker said.

"Well, she will be a great addition to the fleet," Admiral Thorn said.

"Hmm, maybe, but we need a crew. And from what you told me, every surviving man and woman in the military is already on board an existing ship; except those 700 or 800 rookies that remain in training?" Admiral Stryker said.

"We have a lot of people who want to join, plus there's the chance of finding more people in the POWs from Caprica to crew the ship, and everyone is in a haste to battle with the Cylons," Admiral Thorn said.

"I can imagine, but never mind that as we will proceed with the plans that we have already created for now. I have a feeling that they will get their fill of battles and death soon enough," Admiral Stryker said.

**Two days later**

"There are representatives from all twelve colonies here that want to talk to you; the civilians chose these twelve to lead until a president is elected," Admiral Thorn said.

"From Cylon intercepts, I heard the former Secretary of Education Laura Roslin was appointed to be president?" Admiral Stryker asked.

"If she is still alive, but never the less the new Quorum wants to speak with the person in charge. Since that person is you…" Admiral Thorn said trailing off.

"Hmm, give me one day as I already have a lot of paperwork to do first," Admiral Stryker said.

**Mobile Drydock Invictus In Orbit Of Avalon**

**Invictus Flag Suite**

"What is the delay Chief Williams? You told me that Sanctuary would have enough power back for us to jump her," Commander Krasner said.

"Sir, she was damaged so badly that it was a miracle that we have managed anything in this last month, and people are not happy. After the message from Admiral Stryker that our homes were attacked and destroyed by the Cylons, everyone's in a bad mood, and morale is low sir," Chief Williams said.

"I understand, but they are in the military and we have a mission to accomplish. And I want them to follow my orders, and the orders from Admiral Stryker, is that clear? I want this ship to be in orbit of Avalon when he returns. His last message noted that they have a lot of surviving ships and over million survivors so far, and having this ship repaired or at least well on the way may help us to take the war back to the Cylons. So remind the repair crews that revenge is a dish best served cold, and this ship will send a tremor down the spine of even an unemotional tin can. So the faster and harder they work, the faster we can get this Cylon eating machine back into the fight and help save as many of our people as possible. Carry on Chief," Commander Krasner said.

"Yes sir. Well, we are installing the last two energizers that are scheduled for now. I think Sanctuary will be able to jump in a couple of days sir. But she is still very badly damaged; she will survive the jump, but the jump could overload the engines again sir, so I would recommend a minimal crew on board," Chief Williams said.

"Good, what about the drones?" Commander Krasner asked.

"Sir, the drones passed as scheduled three days ago. So until next week I think we are safe. But I don't understand one thing sir, what will happen when the drones come in a week, and they find that Sanctuary is not where she's supposed to be?" Chief Williams asked.

"That Chief is the million cubit question, and I can't tell you because I don't know. But if we bring her to Avalon then the Invictus can repair her faster, and at least the hull damage and weapon systems can be repaired and upgraded. With Invictus, we will have a second fortress in orbit, and plus there are all those defensive satellites that have already been launched in orbit so we will have enough defenses I think. And Chief, I am interested in one more thing; how is the surface work progressing?" Commander Krasner asked.

"Well, we already have several more buildings complete and several others in different stages of constructions. Since we will have over million survivors, we are already working on camps for them. Unfortunately, once they arrive they will be forced to live in tents before we can start building larger buildings. We have cleared a larger section of land and started new farms for food as we will have a lot of new mouths to feed soon," Chief Williams said.

"Good, is there place for one more construction project on Invictus Chief?" Commander Krasner asked.

"Sir, that depends on what you're thinking sir," Chief Williams said.

"I was thinking if we have the space and materials for it, can we build a Titan II Gunstar?" Commander Krasner asked.

"Gunstar sir, hmm, I suppose we can. But construction will take at least 4-6 months, and if you want an additional one then 8 months for two. More than half of our personnel are on the planet working on camps, towns, and farms. We really only have the resources for one for right now though," Chief Williams said.

"Good, get bay three to start working on it. Assign any of the extra engineers we have to the new project for now, more if needed. One more ship will not be a bad thing to have," Commander Krasner said.

"Sir, is that Admiral Stryker's order?" Chief Williams asked curiously.

"No Chief, it's mine. I think the Admiral will not have anything against one more ship in the fleet when he returns," Commander Krasner said.

"Yes sir, and here is the report on all ships. All are performing in peak condition, and Colonel Coven is in charge of the repairs on the Warstar Sanctuary," Chief Williams said.

"Well, he knows that ship better than we do," Commander Krasner said.

The commander heard a knock on the door.

"Come in," Commander Krasner said.

The doors opened and a young lieutenant entered.

"Sir, Governor Miral want to see you sir," the lieutenant said.

"Ok, let him in, that's all chief. I'll talk to you later," Commander Krasner said.

The chief and the lieutenant saluted and exited the room. A moment later Governor Miral entered the room.

"Good morning Governor, have a seat please," Commander Krasner said.

"Thank you Commander," Governor Miral said.

"How can I help you Governor?" Commander Krasner said.

"Well to start with, can you tell me if these orders are true?" Governor Miral asked, putting a few papers in front of Commander Krasner, "these are your orders to increase the work on Sanctuary, and preparations for several of your own projects."

"I see you found it fast Governor. As you know, we have over a million survivors so far and counting, and only the gods knows how many more will be found when Admiral Stryker returns. Currently the colonists don't have anything to complain about as far as the living conditions, do they Governor?" Commander Krasner asked.

"That is not what I'm talking about Commander. Your authorization for construction of a new ship and the increased work force on the Sanctuary are. So why are we doing this?" Governor Miral asked.

"First Governor, we need Sanctuary to be repaired and operational. So we will repair that ship as she has more firepower than half a dozen Mercury class Battlestars, and we can use the protection she can give to protect this colony and to take the war to the Cylons or anyone else who threatens the safety of us all. As for the Gunstar I'm placing into production, she will only increase our defenses. We still don't know anything about those drone ships creators or their intentions, and we don't even have a good idea about what is around us. We are in the middle of nowhere Governor and we will not be getting a lot of help from home. Admiral Stryker put me in charge of all military personnel and to protect Avalon, so please remember that and stay out of it as I'm not going to change my mind on the subject," Commander Krasner said.

**Red Horse Nebula – Olympia Station Conference Room**

Twelve delegates from all twelve colonies entered the conference room. They were chosen from the civilian population to form a Quorum of Twelve. In front of them sat Admirals Stryker and Thorn, as well as Commander Clark. Admiral Stryker looked at the paper in front of him, a list of all twelve delegates for the quorum.

Ian Tyler – Aerelon  
>Tanya Ashville – Tauron<br>William Monroe – Gemenon  
>Jason Campus – Canceron<br>Odessa Styles – Virgon  
>Maurice Jenkins – Aquaria<br>Robert Caldwell – Caprica  
>Evan McNealy – Scorpia<br>Eric Kano – Libran  
>Rae Sanchez – Leonis<br>Joseph Courbet – Picon  
>Karen Scrubs – Sagittarion<p>

"Ladies and Gentlemen quiet please," Commander Clark said and everyone in the room stopped talking and turned their attention to the three people in front of them.

"Thank you ladies and gentlemen. My name is Mark Stryker, and I am currently in command of all military and civilians here in this nebula, and in Avalon your future home," Admiral Stryker said.

"And who put you in charge Admiral?" the delegate from Canceron Jason Campus asked.

"Admiral Nagala put me in charge Mr. Campus," Admiral Stryker said.

"So what is your plan Admiral? We've been sitting in these ships for almost 2 months now and they are easy targets for the Cylons if they find us," the delegate from Libran Eric Kano said.

"This location was created in secrecy, and nobody knows about it except for some high ranking military and some civilians. For now we are safe here, but very soon you are leaving from this place to the new colony called Avalon. Once there, you will be getting the colony ready for all of the refugees that we are going to rescue," Admiral Stryker said.

"Avalon? Where is that, as I've never heard of it?" Jason Campus asked.

"It is a new colony far from here in a sector that I will not disclose at this time in order to keep it a secret. Avalon was established eight and a half months ago, so you can call it a safe haven if you want," Admiral Stryker said.

"How is it that President Adar didn't know about this? Or any of the Government?" Odessa Styles from Virgon asked.

"Well how do I put this… The Military and some members of the Government feared that there was a real possibility that the Cylons would find this new colony if the main parts of the government knew about its existence. Also, more than half the military assets we have here were constructed without the knowledge of the government to ensure that if the Cylons attacked the Colonies, we would have a place to fall back to and rebuild," Admiral Stryker said.

"You're talking as if the military knew that the Cylons would attack!" Evan McNealy the representative from Scorpia said angrily.

"The military didn't know that the Cylons would attack, but they guessed that they might do so, and after the first Cylon war measures were started to create a safe location to keep our way of life from ending and to give humanity a chance to continue. Unfortunately everything the military High Command tried to accomplish utterly failed every time the government got involved. Now the Colonies are gone, the fleet is almost gone, and we are facing the real possibility of extinction. So I don't think our dwelling on the right or wrong of it is what we should be worried about at this time. We still have a future in front of us and a lot of work to get done to make sure that we will continue to survive as a people," Admiral Stryker said.

"So what now? When do we leave from here to go to Avalon?" Jason Campus asked.

"The Military has several more operations to complete before we leave the colonies once and for all. This includes rescuing as many survivors, from all over the colonies, as we can. We know there are survivors on Aerelon, Caprica and Virgon, but we are still looking for more. So by the end of the month all of the designated ships and the two space stations, along with their designated escorts, will leave this location and start the six month trip to your new homes. Also, I will remind the members of this Quorum that we are still under Martial law until the new seat of government can be built on Avalon and the military units I have here have returned to properly protect our new home. Admiral Thorn will be going with you to take command and to make the colony as safe as possible until I return. At which time this Quorum will hopefully have a plan ready for my approval to stand down from martial law and return to civilian control of the government. We will need a justice system in place as well as other governmental agencies. So you have your work cut out for you. I will only say that I encourage you all to think really hard about the loss of life that we have taken so far at over fifty billion at last count when you want to complain about our need to build up our defenses as the Cylons are still out there and want us dead," Admiral Stryker said.

"Are these operations to save only military assets or for the remaining civilians as well?" William Monroe from Gemenon asked.

"Both. We plan to save as many as possible in one single wave. We also have military operations underway to find several surviving warships that we believe are still active, as well as several warships the Cylons have placed in orbit of the Aerelon moon that the Cylons are using," Admiral Stryker said.

"So you're going to risk the current fleet because of a few ships?" Evan McNealy asked.

"Yes, and with a damn good reason. We need every fighting ship we can get so as to protect this fleet and our new world, and at some point we will have to fight the Cylons or even a new enemy as we do not know what the future holds for us. I have sent our scout ships to scout all our depots, and yards where decommissioned ships could be found, and once we find them and put them in active service again we can evacuate more of our people on them," Admiral Stryker said.

"What about Galactica and her fleet?" Joseph Courbet from Picon asked.

"After we are safely on Avalon and her defenses are ready, we will send a small task force to find the Battlestar Galactica and her fleet of refugees and get them home. But right now we have to think of the many people we have to take care of here," Admiral Stryker said.

"And about a President Admiral, why didn't you agreed to the naming of a President?" Robert Caldwell from Caprica asked.

"I didn't because from our last report Laura Roslin, the former Secretary of Education, is the current President and she is in the Galactica's fleet," Admiral Stryker said.

"That didn't answer my question," Robert Caldwell replied.

"How so?" Admiral Stryker asked.

"Why have you disagreed with us putting a temporary President into office until President Roslin is recovered?" Robert Caldwell asked.

"I did not agree or disagree, but as I'm not interested in politics, I believe that you the Quorum of Twelve Representatives can do fine in governing our people even without a president for now. In the future when things have had time to settle down, we can have an open election for the office of President and for all of the other position that are not filled," Admiral Stryker said.

"Will this allow us as a Quorum to oversee military operations?" Rae Sanchez from Leonis asked.

"No. I will not allow anyone to interfere with military operations and it is not because politics and the military do not go together as some may think. Under the Articles of Colonization the military is to report to the head of the government which is the dually elected President, who we cannot contact or find at this time. If at a future point we as a governing group decide that we will not be able to find the Galactica or if five years passes without any contact with the legitimate President; I will then support setting up elections for a new president, and I will support placing the military back into the control of the new President where it belongs. I will go further by placing all of my action in the upcoming years up for the judgment of the President and the Quorum to determine if I should continue to serve or retire. I cannot be more straight or fair than that ladies and gentlemen," Admiral Stryker said.

"And what if you take all military ships for your operations? What will stay at Avalon to protect the civilians?" Maurice Jenkins from Aquaria asked.

"The Aerelon and Virgon Home Guard units were on a training mission together when the war started, so they were not destroyed along with their worlds or with the fleet. There are two Battlestars, two Battlecruisers, nine cruisers, five destroyers, as well as nine Patrolstars in those two Battle groups. They will be in charge of protecting the civilian ships until you arrive at Avalon where you will be met by the Battlestar Sword and her Gunstars. Add them to the two armed and armored space stations, and you see that Avalon is very well protected until I arrive with the fleet. When not on a mission, the military units will also be ordered to patrol in and around Avalon space. You have my word that all the civilians in this fleet will be safe," Admiral Stryker said.

"Admiral, I don't understand one thing; you said space is our main problem right now, so how do you plan to save even more civilians when you don't have a place for them. You said you will find ships, but is that enough? I mean food, water, and everything needed, it's difficult enough now with the current fleet we have, but what about when we have more people rescued from the colonies?" Jason Campus asked.

"Delegate Campus is your suggestion for me to stop evacuating the remaining survivors?" Admiral Stryker asked disgusted.

"No but there is no space, how do you plan to feed all of us?" Jason Campus asked.

Seeing that Stryker is in need of assistance, Admiral Thorn stood up and said, "Ladies and Gentlemen, nobody will be hungry or will lack any basic need that they are supposed to have. Our last order from Admiral Nagala was to save us many we can, but not all of them. Admiral Stryker and myself, as well as every Commander in this fleet, are working around the clock to do just that. We have placed the civilian's needs in front of the military's. Eighty five percent of the food that is produced on the Argo ships and the stations are going to the civilians, and the military personal are living in even harsher conditions than the civilians. We do not complain, as our job is to save as many as we can and to keep all of you safe until we get to Avalon. I think I have answered your question delegate Campus?"

"I have one question if I may?" William Monroe from Gemenon asked.

"Go ahead," Admiral Stryker said.

"There are a number of wealthy families that survived from Gemenon, and few from other colonies. They wanted me to ask if they could get better accommodations? They are not used to living on ships under such harsh conditions," William Monroe said.

"Really…. Let me say this to you then. I do not care about how wealthy they were. Our twelve worlds are in flames, and they have just joined the rest of us. If their royal high asses want something better, they will have to work for it like everyone else. These are fracking spaceships, not royal luxury yachts. The Cylons blew up our homes and dumped our live into the crapper, so we do not have luxuries here. They will live where all the others live, without exception. I hope that makes my opinion very clear. If that is not clear enough, I will go on to say that if anyone thinks that they are better and can get a better deal than they can complain to the current landlords of the colonies: the Cylons. We are alive and I need everyone to pull their weight if we are to live and to be able at some point to destroy the Cylons and reclaim our worlds. Either they pull their own weight, or I will dump them back onto Gemenon, or somewhere else, and pick up someone that will be very happy to do anything to live!" Admiral Stryker said loudly and angrily.

"For now we are finished. Please return to your ships and seriously think about what is the best thing for all of our people and not just for the few who used to be the rich and powerful. I will inform you all about our next meeting when we finish our jobs and before you leave for Avalon. Thank you all for coming and I appreciate all the work you are doing for our people," Admiral Stryker said.

Admiral Stryker was frustrated by that last question; it appeared that some people did not understand that the colonies were gone, the economy was gone, and that all those who survived were all the same with no exceptions. After finishing the meeting, Stryker went directly to his quarters for a little nap and to clear his head after a long day of work.

**Near Red Horse Nebula Entrance**

A white flash appeared, and a heavy raider appeared in front of Red Horse Nebula's entrance.

"We are here, are you sure we're in the right place?" Leoben asked.

"Positive, get us in, maximum speed," Kathy replied.

The heavy raider started moving in, entering the nebula. Running in at full speed, the heavy raider moved to reach the center of the Nebula as fast as possible.

"I hope the stealth systems are working, or this will be a short ride," Kathy said.

"Well that is something we will be finding out very soon," Leoben said nervously.

The heavy raider avoided detection until it got to the edge of the Olympia's perimeter, but too many sensor and dradis satellites, as well as probes, were around and they were soon detected.

"Frak we've been detected. A dozen vipers are closing on our location!" Kathy said, "start broadcasting our surrender fast!"

**Olympia C.I.C.**

Commander Corgon watched the monitor as an unknown hostile appeared near the station.

"It's definitely a Cylon heavy raider sir," the dradis officer said, "All vipers near its location have turned to engage the target sir."

"Sir, we are receiving a signal from the heavy raider; they say that they surrender sir?" the communications officer said.

"Surrender? Weird. Send a message to the heavy raider to follow the instructions of the vipers and land in the main bay of this station," Commander Corgon said.

"Yes sir," the communications officer said.

"They sent a message," Leoben said

"So what did it say?" Kathy asked.

"Follow the Vipers and turn all weapons off," Leoben replied.

"The weapons are already off… Never mind, follow the vipers instructions," Kathy said.

**Onboard The Station**

"Lieutenant, send a message to both Admirals Thorn and Stryker, and inform them that we have guests arriving in landing bay two. Then get a hold of the marines and have them armed and standing by in bay two," Commander Corgon said.

"Aye sir," the communications officer replied.

**Olympia Brig, Half an Hour Later**

Admirals Thorn and Stryker entered the brig with half a dozen marines.

"I am Admiral Stryker; you said that you have some very important information for me?" Admiral Stryker said.

"Yes Admiral, we do," Kathy said.

"And why would I trust anything you might have to say to me? You are Cylons, and you just attacked our worlds," Admiral Stryker said.

"Because we want to help your people Admiral; we both risked our own lives to get here and to give you some information about the Cylons that you can put to good use," Kathy said.

"What do you want in return?" Admiral Stryker asked.

"To stay here with this fleet and to live as free individuals. We cannot go back and we do not want to. We openly protested when the ones, also known at the Cavils, started this war. We didn't have a chance to stop this war, but now we can at least help you to survive and maybe even the odds a little," Kathy said.

"I am listening," Admiral Stryker said.

"What would stop you from killing us after we say what we have to say?" Leoben asked.

"I already know that you have technology that allows you to resurrect when killed. You see, we have several dozen of your kind here, and one of them is being pretty cooperative," Admiral Stryker said.

"You tortured her?" Kathy asked.

"I have done no such thing, I'm not a cylon! She volunteered to tell us all by herself, and I'm honor bound to keep our agreement. I left her alive and gave her asylum here in the fleet," Admiral Stryker said.

"We cannot ask more than that," Kathy said.

"Well that depends, what do you have to offer?" Admiral Stryker asked.

"Well for a start, there are forty Basestars ships in total pursuing Galactica. There are a dozen trying to locate the Battlestar Prometheus and the other ship in her fleet," Kathy said.

"Well, at least they are still alive," Admiral Thorn said.

"Also, our main fleet is still here; over one hundred and thirty baseships are scattered around the colonies. Picon was chosen for the Cylon HQ," Kathy said, "there is also something you need to know Admiral. You see, resurrection technology is dependent upon the three resurrection ships, and two resurrection hubs. There is one hub and a resurrection ship in the fleet that is pursuing the Battlestar Galactica and her fleet. The remaining ships and hub remained here, with our massive mobile facility where we are producing more ships."

"Tempting, but that facility must be well guarded," Admiral Stryker said.

"True, it is, with at least a dozen standard baseships, two heavy baseships. and something new called a Dreadstar. It was created to counter the colonial Andraste Warstars and the Sanctuary heavy Warstars," Kathy said.

"Sanctuary, but only one was ever built; she disappeared, and we never found out what happened to her," Admiral Stryker said, lying about Sanctuary.

"Never the less, it was not believed that the colonial fleet would not create another one in time. Cripple or destroy these ships and you have the upper hand over the cylons. With the main shipyard facilities and resurrection ships gone you will make all of the Human model Cylons mortal, the raiders will not be able to resurrect again either, and with the shipyard gone there will be a huge loss to the Cylons ability to build new ships. This will force a change in the war and the way the Cylons are fighting. This could allow you to force an end to this war before it leads to the destruction of both of our people," Kathy said.

"Alright, put them into VIP cells until we find a place for them," Admiral Stryker said to one of the guards.

"We will talk again and I will want some information. So spend your time well and think about the questions I'm about to ask you. I do not need answer right this moment. The questions are; Where are the prisoner of war camps? What forces are guarding them? I will want to know how many colonial ships still survive. Also, what warships have been captured and where are they? Last but not least; I want a map of the Cylon worlds, shipyards, and mining facilities. In return, you and those like you will be given a chance to save yourselves and in time we may even become one people. But that is going to take a lot of work," Admiral Stryker said.

**Command Baseship 02 In Orbit Of Picon**

"That traitorous bitch!" Jack Cavil said angrily after finding out Kathy had left, "I knew that she could not to be trusted."

"Leave that for now Cavil, we have much more important things to do," Gary Doral said.

"I see you finally came here from that fancy Dreadstar of yours," Jack Cavil said.

"Well, let me say that I'm tired of being resurrected so many times," Gary Doral said.

"Fracking disaster, we still didn't find the colonial forces, and we don't even know what they are up to," Jack Cavil said.

"I believe they're regrouping and preparing for a major attack," Jeremy Simon said.

"Really? We have over one hundred and thirty baseships here in the colonies; if they wanted to challenge us they would have already done it," Jack Cavil said.

"And what if they are not here anymore?" one of the number 8s called Lucy said.

"No, no they are here. Several of our raiders report contact with Raptors doing searches. They are here; the question is where are they and what are they planning?" Jack Cavil said.

**One Day Later, Red Horse Nebula**

**Battlestar Atlantis C.I.C.**

After Admiral Stryker entered the C.I.C., Commander Haller moved closer and said "Sir, one of our first salvage units hit the jackpot sir."

"They found something useful?" Admiral Stryker asked.

"Yes sir, two raptors reported that the Romulus surplus yard near Gemenon is intact, and there was no Cylon presence detected. They found fifty civilian ships that are in good shape and all ready for use, of course they need some repairs, but they can be used. Also Lieutenant Baker from raptor 381 said that they found 6 Tiger II destroyers sir. They were all decommissioned seven years ago by the Adar administration as a cost cutting measure, but they were kept in good condition, and there are two Hawkeye Firestars as well. He said there are at least six additional destroyers, but they were not in so good a shape and will need a good yard period to get them ready for real combat use. Say three or four months for each unit," Commander Haller reported.

"Send recovery units and crews right now; have two of the Battlestars and four Gunstars go with them as escorts. Once they get those new ships put into storage on Eternity, they are to get back here ASAP. But tell the engineers, they are to work on activating those Tiger II destroyers if they can," Admiral Stryker said.

"The second patrol didn't have any luck at the Corona yards near Aquaria; it was completely destroyed with nothing left to salvage. The third patrol found two dozen civilian ships, including three large Argo ships, near the Coronet deposition yard. The fourth patrol is on its way to the Destarious supply depot. There were several Battlestars decommissioned there, as well as a Hephaestus mobile dock and a Henchantories Dreadnought," Commander Haller said.

"Very good work. Pass on my compliments to the raptor crews and keep me posted," Admiral Stryker said.

**Destarious Supply Depot**

Two Raptors jumped directly over the wreck of what was once the main station. It was destroyed, but the other assets at the depot were still intact.

"Nothing on dradis," Lieutenant Crosby said.

"Ok, let us see what we have here," Lieutenant Marino said.

**At almost the same time.**

**Battlestar Trinity, Location: Somewhere Near Tauron**

"Sir, we can jump, but as I said before we only have one jump," Colonel Sounders said.

"Duly noted and logged. Alright jump us to the Destarious supply depot," Commander Gerard said.

"Jumping 3, 2, 1, Jump!" Colonel Sounders said.

Trinity disappeared and then reappeared near the supply depot.

Minor explosions rocked the ship, as the already damaged energizers exploded. For a moment Trinity lost control of all her thrusters and started moving out of control.

"Frak, we lost the energizers again," Colonel Sounders said.

"Get the emergency power online before we collide with something. Fracking Cylons!" Commander Gerard said angrily.

The crews of the two raptors were first in shock when they saw the blip on dradis believing that it was a Cylon baseship, but since Trinity jumped directly in front of them they quickly saw it was a Battlestar.

"Fracking hell," Lieutenant Marino said, "Is that a Battlestar?"

"It's the Battlestar Trinity, where the frack did she come from?" Lieutenant Crosby replied, still in shock.

"Who cares? We found her and she's damaged; from what I can see she's out of control, but it appears she's starting to stabilize herself," Lieutenant Marino said.

**Trinity C.I.C.**

"We are getting power back online; we diverted power used from half of our other systems to get thruster control again," Colonel Saunders said.

"Good, stabilize the ship and prepare to launch raptors," Commander Gerard said.

"Sir, we're detecting two ships off the starboard bow; it appears to be colonial raptors," the dradis officer said.

"Hail them," Commander Gerard ordered.

"This is Battlestar Trinity to unknown raptors, identify yourself or be fired upon," the communications officer said.

"This is raptor 221 from Olympia station," Lieutenant Crosby replied.

"This is Trinity Actual here, lieutenant you said Olympia station? She still survives?" Commander Gerard said.

"Yes sir, she, and lots of other ships; civilian and military sir," Lieutenant Crosby said.

A cheer could be heard over the communications channel as the Trinity's bridge crew were happy to hear that they were not alone.

"Raptor 221, under whose command?" Commander Gerard asked.

"Admiral Stryker is in charge of the fleet sir, and Admiral Thorn is in charge of Olympia station," Lieutenant Crosby replied.

"Stryker who? Never mind Lieutenant, jump back and get us some help fast; our energizers are down and we cannot jump again without help," Commander Gerard said.

"Yes sir!" Lieutenant Crosby said.

Moments later both raptors jumped away...

**Red Horse Nebula Olympia Station C.I.C.**

"Sir the raptors from Destarious depot have returned early, sir they say they have found the Battlestar Trinity!" the communications officer exclaimed loudly.

"Battlestar Trinity?" Admiral Thorn replied in shock.

"Yes sir, they said she was badly damaged and needs assistance," the communications officer replied.

"Get Admiral Stryker on the line for me," Admiral Thorn ordered.

Ten minutes later Admiral Stryker entered the Olympia's C.I.C.

"Communications Officer said that it was important, what do we have?" Admiral Stryker asked.

"You will not guess what we just found," Admiral Thorn said with a smile, "our raptors just found the Battlestar Trinity at Destarious depot."

"You're fracking with me?" Admiral Stryker asked.

"Nope," Admiral Thorn said grinning widely.

"Well what the hell are we waiting for? Let's send some ships to get her back," Admiral Stryker said.

"You won't mind if I use Atlantis for this mission?" Admiral Thorn asked.

"No, go ahead," Admiral Stryker said.

"Communications, send a message to the Battlestars Atlantis and Poseidon and tell them to get to Destarious depot ASAP; they are to recover Trinity as soon as they can," Admiral Thorn said.

"Yes sir!" the communications officer said.

"Well, will we delay salvage from that yard until we salvage Trinity?" Admiral Thorn asked.

"No objections there," Admiral Stryker said.

Sometime later the Battlestars Atlantis and Poseidon jumped almost directly on top of the Battlestar Trinity.

**Trinity C.I.C.**

"Sir, two ships just jumped directly on top of us; identifications say they are the Battlestars Atlantis and Poseidon," Colonel Saunders said.

"Incoming message from Atlantis sir," the communications officer said.

"What does it say?" Commander Gerard asked.

"Prepare to be jumped to Olympia station," the communications officer said.

"Lieutenant, tell them that we cannot jump," Commander Gerard said sadly.

"Colonel Haller from Atlantis said they will dock with us, and then link our computers together; in short they will use their own engines to jump both ships," the Lieutenant replied quickly.

"That's crazy!" Colonel Saunders exclaimed.

"Actually it's not, so let us hope they succeed or both ships will end up in pieces. Lieutenant what class of ships are they?" Commander Gerard asked.

"Sir, the Atlantis appears to be a Mercury class like Trinity, and the Poseidon is a sub-class of the Valkyrie class Battlestar," the communications officer said.

"Where the hell did those ships comes from?" Colonel Saunders asked.

In space the Battlestars Atlantis maneuvered to get on top of Trinity, and managed to hard dock on Trinity very gently, at the same time Poseidon put itself below Trinity and turned its belly against Trinity's. Poseidon acted like a stabilizer in the entire process, and succeeded in docking with Trinity from below, at the same time Atlantis docked from Trinity's upper side.

"Sir Atlantis and Poseidon are docked," Colonel Saunders reported.

"Damn, I can't believe this, I simply can't," Commander Gerard said.

One of the monitors flashed and numbers showed on it; 10, 9, 8, all three ships were linked together, but only the Atlantis and Poseidon used their engines. It was a very risky move, towing two Battlestars, since one served as a stabilizer; if there had been any miscalculation it could've led to the ships jumping to the wrong location or blowing apart.

"All hands brace for a jump. 4,3,2,1, jump!" the communications officer said shipwide.

"Frak, I am too old for this," Commander Gerard said.

They jumped directly to the Red Horse nebula...


	9. 1x09 Firestorm pt1

Firestorm Part I

**Admiral's log**

_It's been five days since we found the Battlestar Trinity near Destarious depot. They lost almost half of their crew, and she is badly damaged from their fight with the Cylons. From Commander Gerard's logs, I can see that they have fixed a great deal of the ship since the end of the Cylon attack two months before. They managed to destroy two baseships during their first and only contact with Cylons._

_The Quorum is still trying to get the upper hand in military decisions. They did not like that we risked two of our Battlestars to save one badly damaged one. They are like many civilian politicians: short sighted. They also protested when I sent the Battlestar Caprica two days ago in search for that Gunstar group and not to mention their reaction to our upcoming mission to save the survivors in the colonies._

_Operation Firestorm is essential for us to save as many civilians and military personnel in the POW camps as we can before we have to leave the colonies. We will start by hitting Aerelon and Caprica. Aerelon because of those two Battlestars and support ships that are sitting in orbit of Aerelon's moon, and the large amount of military personnel on Aerelon itself; our latest Intel from the stealth raptors indicated that there are a little less than 200,000 survivors. It would seem that the Cylons are extremely efficient in the extermination of all human survivors on Aerelon. Better word came from Caprica with over 1.25 million survivors and counting so far, plus half a marine division under the direct command of General O'Rilley. General O'Rilley has started a new campaign against the Cylons and seems to be making their stay on Caprica a not so pleasant one. He and his marines have taken a few military bases, including one of the main bases in the Tyr area; allowing him to arm and supply a much larger group of survivors._

_We have succeeded in finding a really large amount of ships all around the Cyrannus system. It was strange that the Cylons didn't destroy them all, but it does not mean they won't start destroying whatever remains after they find out what we have done when this operation is over. So far, there have been only minor skirmishes with Cylon raiders on some of the sites._

_We have found eighty large civilian transports, each capable of housing over 5,000 people, along with fifty additional ships from ranging from old liners, mining ships, and a few others. We made a lucky find with six Colossus class heavy military transports. Those monsters will really come in handy, since each of them can carry 10,000 passengers and an added plus as they are armed and I'll admit that it's mostly with point defense weapons, but they are capable of landing on a planet which is a bonus at this point. There were eight Argo ships, four smaller and four larger, and they will be a great addition to the food production of the fleet. There were two older Cloud type units; Cloud 1 and 2, which were the first two from the Cloud class of luxury liners._

_Civilian ships were not the only ships that we found and rescued to join the new fleet. Twelve Tiger II Destroyers were also found. Those ships are as strong as a Columbia II battlestar; the only drawback is they don't carry fighters, so they will need fighter support. Six of these are in relatively perfect shape, but the other six need some work. I plan to assign them as part of the secondary fleet once they are repaired to guard the civilian fleet once we depart._

_A third Hephaestus class mobile dock (constructstar) Starbridge has been located at the Horus Manufacturing Company shipyards; as with her sisters the Hephaestus and Forge already in service, she is an excellent addition. Taking that these ships, usually called Constructstars, are capable of holding Two Mercury class Battlestars or between four to six Gunstars, it will be more than a welcome addition. Fortune favored us as she was not alone. We also found three additional Cradle class mobile docks hiding at Horus as well. They are smaller and are only capable of sustaining only one battlestar at a time, but they are capable of holding anything from a Gunstar to the Nova class Command Battlestar, and it will also boost our repair and production capabilities at a time that we need them the most. We have more than enough civilian volunteers from the civilian ships to help in manning these ships, and they are being transferred to those new dock ships as I write this log._

_Admiral Thorn has ordered the extraction of the old Dreadnought Henchantories. She will not be used for military purposes, although I do want to see her returned to full strength again. The Henchantories has many large internal spaces that can be used in the short term to house the thousands of people we are going to rescue. It is well armored and can hold 50,000 people on board for a short period of time, and as such it will be used as large colony ship until we reach Avalon. All her weapons will be repaired, the point defense grid will be modernized, and she will be hastily upgraded. She does not carry any fighters, but does carry a wing of 50 raptors and shuttles._

_We found several more military units that I am sure will be a good addition to the protection of our people. With two Hawkeye class Firestars that are in relatively good shape and six Defender class Gunstars, though they are lacking their external armor and heavy weapons. Then there is the hybrid Gunstar, something between a standard defender class and a titan class, called the Minerva. She was one of the prototypes, I think, for the Titan II Gunstars. She is fully armed and in great shape. I ordered her immediate extraction and renamed her the Miranda. She can carry twenty vipers and a crew of only 400; she is perfect for the role of a scout._

_There were a few large container ships also found, and we will take them too. Admiral Thorn also wants for us to take the Aureoles station. She is similar to the Hera station we already have, but she is half wrecked and there is no time to repair her, although she could be useful to carry all the ships that are still inactive or damaged. Her repair bays are heavily damaged, but her docking bays and FTL/Power plant is still fully functional and some of her weapon systems can be put back into operation. I still think about taking her too._

_I ordered the scrapping of the frigates we got from the Hera junkyard, as we surely can use the materials and parts to get all of our active ship back to 100 percent. We needed more Gunstars, but most of the Gunstars that were retired at the ready reserve yards were destroyed or in so bad a shape that repairing them was not an option at this time._

_At the Lauriental depot, we found two perfectly intact Assaultstars or as the marines call them Marinestars, but both names suite them equally well. Both of them are Forseti class Assaultstars; the Forseti itself, and the Dillinger. The Forseti class ships were actually designed from two Minerva class Battlestars; early during their construction, both ships were cancelled. But instead of scrapping them, they were finished and modified to serve as Marine Assaultstars. They are as large as a Mercury class Battlestar, and are capable of entering a planet's atmosphere and landing on a planet, but a majority of their attacks are from the air or in orbit. Such as launching wave after wave of assault raptors filled with marines. Currently, both of these ships are docked on the lower piers of Olympia station where they are being made ready for the upcoming rescue attempts in the colonies._

_Last, but not the least, we have found another Columbia II Battlestar, the Phoebe. She was retired 8 years ago, but was still in good shape; though only two of her engines and a few of her weapons are undamaged. She's already in one of the docks undergoing repairs._

_Maybe the biggest surprise came when we found those Assaultstars; we also found something else. On one of the wrecks, we found a raptor. A working raptor, but it was not the raptor we found that was of real interest to us; we found a living person. An even bigger surprise was when we got him to the Olympia station sickbay to find out that he was Colonel Belzen, the First officer from the Battlestar Pegasus. He was in very bad shape when he was found, and he's still in relatively bad shape. He told us the short story about how Pegasus escaped the Scorpia shipyards. He said that about a week later after the attack, a scout found what would be seen as a Cylon staging ground; with over fifteen squadrons of raiders. Cain ordered an attack. Belzen disagreed with the order in front of the entire C.I.C. crew. Admiral Cain then asked for his sidearm, when she got it, she pointed it at Belzen's head, for a moment it looked like she would kill the colonel, but instead she ordered marines to lock him in the brig._

_A day later, she ordered for him to be deported from the ship and marooned. Thus a raptor with a broken FTL, minimal engines, and with no food or water was sent out as his last prison. A slow death in an abyss of space. Luckily one of the guards was a good friend of the colonel and smuggled food and water onboard; it saved the colonel when he was left behind in the raptor. Unable to jump, he then searched for the nearest colonial outpost and it was Lauriental. It had been abandoned when he arrived there, but he found some of the ships that still had functioning life support and he stayed there. He rummaged through supplies on the ships to survive until we found him.  
>After I told him what Cain had done to the Scylla fleet, he didn't want to believe it, but he knew what she was capable of after her attack on the staging ground and marooning him to die. As I'm short on experienced commanders, I'm going to promote him and give him a command.<em>

_The Cylon model known as Kathy gave us more information on the Cylon forces in colonial space. She said that there are fifteen baseships in orbit of Picon, seven in orbit of Aerelon and Caprica, and around 27 more in the entire Cyrannus system which gives them at least three at each of the other colonies. She believes that there are around 40 or so chasing Galactica and her fleet, and 15 so far in the hunt for the Battlestar Prometheus and her battle group. Almost all the rest of their ships are guarding their mobile factories or are being repaired. As soon as all our ships are ready, I will form two fleets. The main fleet full of all the nonessential civilians will set course for Avalon, together with all shipyards and stations, leaving only the three Cradle docks behind for military use. The second fleet mostly formed by Battlestars and some Gunstars will stay behind to wreak as much havoc as possible before finally departing for Avalon. During this time, we will rescue the civilians and any military personnel that we can. I delayed operation "Firestorm" for a week or so, until we were fully ready. For sure Trinity and Phoebe will not participate in it, so I'm going to send them with the stations in the hope that they will be ready when they make it to Avalon. We are still waiting for the Battlestar Caprica to return._

_May the Lords of Kobol bless us. End Log._

**Olympia Conference Room **

Commanders from the various ships were assembled in the conference room. Admirals Stryker and Thorn entered and sat in front of them.

"Ladies and Gentlemen, as you all know; we are planning to get as many survivors as possible from the colonies. We will be starting first with those on Aerelon and Caprica," Admiral Stryker said, "We chose those two colonies first because of a few facts; first Caprica has over one million civilian survivors, and almost 10,000 marines under General O'Rilley. Second, there is an unfinished Battlestar in one of the support docks that remains relatively intact, and I want to grab that ship as well. Aerelon has over 200,000 survivors that survived so far and has a very active guerilla movement going; there were more survivors, but they have already been killed by the Cylon centurions. There is a POW camp there, with an unknown number of military personnel. We believe that some came from the wrecked ships, and a majority from those two Mercury class ships in orbit, the Vanguard and the Chimera. There are also those several support ships, and from what our scouts say they are all in perfect condition, though we will have to reboot them without the CNP installed to move them."

"Our operation will start simultaneously on both colonies. The first attack fleet will be led by the Warstar Argona and her escorting Battlestars Pleiades, Minerva, and Rycon. They will engage the main force of four Cylon baseships. The Battlestar Atlantis and two Gunstars Modesto and Brusser will jump in and engage the baseship in orbit of Aerelon. A stealth raptor will jump right in front of the baseship guarding those ships in orbit of the Aerelon moon and blast it to hell with nukes. Then the extraction fleet will jump in and start the rescue mission. I predict between 30 to 60 minutes will be needed to collect all survivors once the ships land on the planets. We will of course jam the entire surrounding space so that the Cylons can't communicate. The second fleet will be divided in two groups; first group lead by the Battlestar Concordia and her escorts Polaris and Victorious, and the second group lead by the Warstar Daedalus and her escorting Battlestars Athena, Titan, Cerberus, and Hades. Simultaneously as the second fleet clears space of any Cylons, the mobile dock Cradle 1 will jump in with escorts formed by four Gunstars, and take the half-finished Sleipnir from the dock she is in. The group that descends to Caprica will be much bigger, with 70 transports and other civilian ships, 4 Colossus military transports, and both Assaultstars temporarily manned by crews from 2 defender class Gunstars. Raptors and vipers will also be launched to ensure total dominance in space and on the planets, and to bomb every cylon to hell," Admiral Stryker said.

One of the commanders stood up and asked, "What about the main fleet here?"

"What about them?" Admiral Stryker asked.

"Who will defend them while we are attacking the Cylons?" Commander Clark asked.

"Admiral Thorn will command the Battlestars Theseus, Independence, Freedom and all other military ships not involved in the rescue to protect the fleet. The Battlestar Poseidon will take guard near the entrance with two Titan II Gunstars, and one Striker class Gunstar. The Battlestar Valkyrie will be cruising around scouting and scanning for contacts, along with our ELINT ships," Admiral Stryker said.

"Is the quorum supporting this action?" Commander Wellington asked.

"Of course not, they are against it; they protested it to me and their protests failed," Admiral Stryker said.

"Sir is the quorum not in charge now?" Commander Clark asked.

"In short, NO! We are under Martial law as set by President Adar when the Cylon attacks started, and only the president or a duly elected president can rescind the order. This is too important a mission for us to cater to the fears of the Quorum and their political ass protecting. As we are still under martial law, it's my decision to continue with the mission and there are lots of people still on the colonies that need to be rescued. I for one will do my duty to help the people we can, and if necessary I will take every military or civilian asset to help save them. I expect each and every one of you to do your duty and to save as many we can. This is not only about hurting the Cylons; it is about preserving our race and we cannot do that without those people. Please do not get me wrong, I'm not going to send anyone on a suicide mission and this mission has risks for each of us. But look at the risks the people are facing on the colonies," Admiral Stryker said, "it's difficult, but once the main civilian fleet departs, they will not return here."

"Sir, if the main civilian fleet and their escorts leave for Avalon, what about the rest of us?" Commander Gerard asked.

"A good question, we will stay behind and give the Cylons hell. We are going to stage raids on the home worlds to rescue as many as we can, and then we are going to go after and disable or destroy their resurrection assets. Then we will go back to Avalon as well. Once there, we will mount a search for the Galactica and Prometheus groups. Now gentlemen, we have seven full days to prepare for the mission. So if there are no more questions you are dismissed," Admiral Stryker said.

**Command Baseship 02 In Orbit Of Picon **

"Hmm, this makes no sense. Why would the colonials be dashing in and out and collecting all of those old ships if they do not have the personnel to man them?" one of two Doral models on the baseship bridge asked.

"That does not matter, we need to find them and destroy them all," Jeremy Simon said.

"Yes brother in time, patience," Jack Cavil said.

"Hmm, so why are you suddenly so calm?" Jeremy Simon asked in confusion.

"Because, I have a plan that will actually work; why bother with catching every human ship when they will lead us to their colony Simon? If they have a secret hiding place here, it is not permanent and it is only a staging area. Now they will make their first move against us and I bet I know where, the only question is when," Jack Cavil said.

"Wait a second, you are allowing them to grow in numbers? Are you mad? If John finds out about this you will be in real trouble," one of the Dorals said.

"No, because with all those assets they probably have and they're collecting, only proves my thesis that they do not have a mobile dock ship or station," Jack Cavil said.

"But they must have when they are taking so many ships; they even took the derelict Dreadnought Henchantories. They need every ship they can get to move their people from the Cyrannus system," Doral said.

"Well, you will find out what I think about that!" Jack Cavil said.

"How's that?" Jeremy Simon asked.

"Several dozen of our brothers and sisters have not reported in, nor have they resurrected yet. That means that the colonials may or may not have found out about them yet. But with the traitors Kathy and Leoben, it is for sure the colonials already know about us. It will not take long before we find their current position. When we do, we will attack them from time to time to get them to move on, but each attack will be more deadly than the last. We have no intention of killing them all, we will let them lead us to their secret colony outside colonial space and then we will destroy them all," Jack Cavil said with a devilish smile.

**Cylon Occupied Caprica**

**Caprican mountains... Temporary Marine HQ **

"What's the latest news?" General O'Rilley asked.

"So far, the news is that Major Steele pushed the Cylons back and has taken Tyr base. We sent two raptors and four Phoenix VTOL craft to start getting supplies from there. The Major also reports that they came into possession of twelve new Scorpion tanks. Each tank has a 152mm main gun and two 20mm machine guns, as well as heavy armor. He is using those vehicles on the nearest Cylon positions. No casualties on our side, but the Cylons have suffered heavy losses," Major Brims reported.

"Good, what about our other check points, are they holding?" General O'Rilley asked.

"So far, they are. The Cylons tried a push near check point 12A, we lost seventeen marines that were killed, and forty four were wounded, but they repelled the attack. All other checkpoints are quiet for now," Major Brims said.

"What about Admiral Stryker? The last message was that they would attack soon," General O'Rilley said angrily.

"Still no word sir, last message received said that in eight days they would attack, since we got it a day ago, there's still seven days until they attack," Major Brims said.

"Hmm, we need to keep the Cylons busy down here. Tell Major Steele and Major Dasher to start mobilizing their troops, we will attack Caprica city," General O'Rilley said.

"But sir that's suicide, even with those tanks, it's too well protected," Major Brims said, going pale.

"Yes, but we will not be engaging the city directly. We will attack the nearby towns and villages as a distraction to draw the attention of the cylons. Once Admiral Stryker decides to move his ass to help us, we will attack at the same time as when they attack in space," General O'Rilley said.

"And what will be our purpose?" Major Brims asked.

"Distraction Major, beside, when the Admiral attacks from above, the Cylons will be too busy to fight us. I know that he will want to get those civilians first. We need to give them time for that. Set up a large perimeter where the ships can land and load up the civilians. I don't want any of those ships to be shot down. Luckily, a majority of the survivors are here in the Caprican mountains. Extraction will be fast and easy. We just need to hold those areas where the Cylons have a lot of their forces, and distract them long enough for the civilians to be saved," General O'Rilley said.

"What about us?" Major Brims asked.

"There are two Assaultstars that the Admiral will send down for us," General O'Rilley said.

**Battlestar Atlantis Flag Suite **

"Come in!" Admiral Stryker said after hearing a knock on the door.

A young woman in her twenties entered the room, clearly a fighter pilot by her uniform. It was Nina Stryker, the younger sister of Admiral Stryker.

"Reporting as ordered sir?" Nina Stryker said, then saw Admiral Stryker and was shocked to see her older brother sitting behind the desk and smiling at her.

"Brother? I mean Admiral, I mean..." Nina Stryker said in confusion.

"Relax sis, it's me," Admiral Stryker said smiling and he walked up to her and hugged her.

"Sit Nina, you don't need to be formal with me," Admiral Stryker said.

"Sorry, I didn't know it was you. I heard some Admiral named Stryker was leading the fleet, but I didn't know it was you. You were a commander the last time I saw you," Nina said.

"Yes, I was commanding the Triton the last time we met. Before I was posted here on the Atlantis, but it's a long story. How are you sister? Did any of our family survive the attack?" Admiral Stryker asked.

"No," Nina said sadly, and it was clear she didn't want to talk about it.

"Our brother died during the battle of Virgon," Nina said.

Steve Stryker was a brother of Mark and Nina, and he was posted on the Battlestar Zeus as a weapons officer. He was killed when his ship exploded during the battle.

"Our mother was shopping in downtown Caprica City when the nukes hit, so I'd say that there were no survivors. The rest of the family I don't know about, probably dead too," Nina said.

"Well at least you're alive, and that's what is important. I see you are the CAG onboard the Battlestar Poseidon. Very nice, Commander Gideon said that you are a damn fine pilot. I might have a use for you here on the Atlantis if you'd like to transfer?" Admiral Stryker asked.

"Thank you brother, but no. I just started getting used to the Poseidon. I don't want to spend a month again, to learn where everything is on this giant ship," Nina said.

"Ok, I am glad that you are ok. When Admiral Thorn said that you survived, I didn't believe it. I am sorry that I didn't see you before this, but leading all these ships takes all the energy and time that I have," Admiral Stryker said tiredly.

"No problem big brother, I just hope we survive all this and get to that new colony of yours. I don't wish to stay here any longer than we need to," Nina said.

"You and probably everyone else in the fleet," Admiral Stryker said chuckling.

"One more thing Mark, why didn't you add Poseidon into this mission of liberation of yours?" Nina asked.

"Because I need some Battlestars to stay and protect the civilians. And I think we already have more than enough ships to take the Cylons in orbit of Aerelon and Caprica," Admiral Stryker said.

"Well I must get back to my ship," Nina said, and started walking to the doors. And before she left she turned and said, "Glad to see you again older brother."

"Oh, please don't call me that," Admiral Stryker said with a smile.

**Avalon Orbit – Invictus Observation Deck **

"Is everything ready?" Commander Krasner asked.

"It is, but I think Sanctuary will have only one chance, Commander," Colonel Coven saided.

"Why's that?" Commander Krasner asked.

"Because sir, Sanctuary has a lot of damage to her hull; we repaired some of it, but an FTL jump will be a really large amount of stress on her and not to mention there is a very good chance that the primary energizer will explode when we bring the FLT on line. The system is damaged and it would be much easier if we got Caduceus and Sword to link with her and jump," Colonel Coven said.

"I doubt those two ships would have the strength for that, she is too massive," Commander Krasner said.

"True, so what about Invictus? She definitely has the mass and strength for it," Colonel Coven said.

"I can't move her from Avalon. We have already installed those modular docks on her, and removing them would take 2 weeks. We will proceed with the current plan. Pray that it works Colonel," Commander Krasner said.

"Yes, sir. I just hope you are right, if not, there will probably be an accident. Again," Colonel Coven said.

"How many people are on board?" Commander Krasner asked.

"A little over two hundred and thirty," Colonel Coven said.

"Evacuate them; keep only 20 of them on Sanctuary to man the ship. I think that they will be enough to get her here. But just in case I'm wrong, have two raptors and a refueling raptor on board in case they need to evacuate," Commander Krasner said.

"Right sir; by the way, she is scheduled for jumping in thirty minutes sir," Commander Krasner said.

...

**30 minutes later...**

**Heavy Warstar Sanctuary C.I.C. **

The C.I.C. was partially repaired and now a small number of people manned some of the consoles. Under normal circumstances, it would take almost 70 people to man C.I.C., now there were only 15.

"Major Rockwell, I think we are ready to jump," Lieutenant Jamison said.

"You think? What does the chief say?" Major Rockwell asked.

"Well, he did not like the idea of jumping her, but since Commander Krasner insisted on it, he said she is as ready as she can be at this time," Lieutenant Jamison said.

"Alright then, set the counter for 10 seconds to jump, tell engineering to stand by," Major Rockwell said.

Engineering is the only other place on the ship where people are; five of them are eager to see if the work they and the others who participated in fixing Sanctuary would be a success or failure.

"5, 4, 3, 2, 1, jump!" the navigation officer said.

The navigation officer put the jump key into place and turned it. The ship shook and disappeared. Moments later, it reappeared in orbit of Avalon; several small explosions rocked the ship near the engineering section before the ship calmed down,"

"Report!" Major Rockwell shouted.

"Several conduits exploded sir, the chief reports no casualties and the ship is stable," Lieutenant Jamison said.

A loud cheer of happiness spread in C.I.C. They did it. They moved this big monster, and they stayed in one piece.

Commander Krasner watched from the observation deck on board the Invictus. _It worked_ he thought, _well now to the hard part_. Admiral Stryker wanted this ship returned to full combat condition, but that will not be easy. The best he could do would be to fix about 80% of it until the main shipyards arrived from the colonies, and even that will be hard to achieve. Especially when so many personnel were on the surface working on those camps for the survivors. He also had teams working on the new Titan II Gunstar.

**Red Horse Nebula – 3 days before Operation Firestorm begins...**

**Olympia Station – Combat Operations Room**

Admiral Stryker looked at the map of colonial space, looking for suitable positions where ships with survivors may have jumped to, and also where colonial fleet units could be hidden.

"This is a good spot," Admiral Stryker said.

"The asteroid belt. That is one of the relatively more violent sections of the entire belt in the system," Admiral Thorn replied in confusion.

"Yes, and that's why I would choose it. I doubt the Cylons will have any patrols near here. After all, it is not even close to their main shipping lines, or to any of the colonies. Move Cradle 2 and 3 to this position and they will be guarded by the light cruisers Persia, Ares and Argos until we return," Admiral Stryker said.

"Do you think that those ships will be enough?" Admiral Thorn asked.

"The docks will have their FTL engines prepared for emergency jump if needed. Just in case the Cylons show up, they will jump. But I want them there; once we finish the evacuation, we will jump directly to their position so that we can search all of the ships before we can move back to Red Horse Nebula," Admiral Stryker said.

"I see, you think there may be something on board the ships?" Admiral Thorn asked.

"Maybe I do, isn't it a little strange that the Cylons destroyed almost the entire fleet, but they spared these two Battlestars and several support ships? Why? If there is something on those ships, I want it found and if need be - destroyed. Since we don't have time to build new ships, especially not more ships the size of a Battlestar, we need every ship we can get. Once we arrive at Avalon, we can start thinking about the fleet build up, but for now we need everything we can get. By the way, how are the upgrades going on the Battlestars Phoebe and Trinity?" Admiral Stryker asked.

"Well from the reports, both ships will be ready in a month or so. Trinity will receive the same armament, armor, and sensor upgrades that the Atlantis has. Phoebe will get the new armor and weapons as the Battlestar Titan has," Admiral Thorn said.

"I don't understand why the fleet would upgrade the Titan? And then after those costly upgrades they retired it," Admiral Stryker said confused.

"Good question, only Adar and those idiots in the government know for sure. The Titan was like the Galactica, Rycon, and Athena; one of the original twelve Battlestars. On all accounts, all of them should already be scrapped. But instead of that, the Titan received a full refit, and was retired like the others, except the Galactica. Only the Ourboros was left in service from the newer Columbia's. Shame, she was one of the best in the class," Admiral Thorn said.

"Not anymore, we have five of them and if the gods give us a little luck they will serve for another 40 or 50 years," Admiral Stryker said.

"If they survive that long that is," Admiral Thorn said.

**Battlestar Caprica C.I.C  
>Location, Somewhere Near Cylon Space <strong>

"Still nothing sir, raptor 318 returned with no news," Colonel Maw reported.

"Damn, they couldn't have just disappeared. Tell the raptors to keep looking," Commander Ericsson said.

"Right away," Colonel Maw said.

"Sir, raptor 321 just jumped in; they report that they found several wrecks near the Hedin system - right on the border with Cylon space. From what they reported, there were three colonial Gunstar wrecks; it belonged to two defender, and one striker class Gunstar (Vanquisher, Stark, Elidan), and there was also one wreck that belonged to a Cylon baseship," the communications officer reported.

"Hmm, so they were attacked by the Cylons. Lost three ships, but they managed to destroy the baseship. We must find them, if any of them survived that is," Commander Ericsson said.

**Red Horse Nebula – 1 day before Operation Firestorm begins... **

"One more day sir and everything will be ready," Commander Haller said, "I just got a report from Colonel Corgon and all ships are at 100%, and they are standing ready to do their duty."

"Good, inform the Captains of those evacuation ships that we will extract our people from the surface. They need to get as many people as possible in the short amount of time that we will have. I would not be surprised if the Cylons showed earlier than we expect after we start jamming them. We don't know how much time is needed for those that die on those baseships to resurrect again. So this has to be as fast as possible," Admiral Stryker said.

"Well, with a number of targets; the optimal time to get the survivors would be between 2 to 3 hours. Caprica has the most survivors. It would also speed things up a little, if once we are done on Aerelon, we jump to Caprica. With two full battle groups; I doubt the Cylons would be so stupid as to attack us while we have that many ready ships," Commander Haller said.

"Commander, are you forgetting something? We are still outnumbered, not outgunned, but outnumbered. They can easily sneak raiders and heavy raiders into our lines. But you have a point. Defending from two sides will be impossible if they counterattack us, so once we finish with Aerelon we will pull back to Caprica. Except for those ships we saved from Aerelon which will go to the special coordinates for a complete checkup. If that's all for now, Admiral Thorn invited me to check some new toys that R&D created," Admiral Stryker said.

"That is all," Commander Haller said.

**Olympia Station Research & Development Section**

Admiral Stryker was walking into one of the station's corridors, when he finally found the R&D Section.

"Damn people can get lost down here," Admiral Stryker said quietly to himself, "Finally!"

He entered into the large hall; filled with experimental technologies, monitors, scientists, and engineers. Near the middle of it all, Admiral Thorn and two others stood talking when Admiral Thorn saw Stryker enter and said, "I see you finally found your way here?"

"Did you know how easily you could get lost on this station?" Admiral Stryker replied with a smile.

"This is Dr. Falkernberg and this is Chief Talbot," Admiral Thorn said, pointing to the two men that stood near him, "they are the leaders of the R&D departments."

"Welcome Admiral," Dr. Falkernberg said.

"Welcome," Chief Talbot also said, nodding.

"So what was so important for me to see one day before the mission?" Admiral Stryker asked.

"Well these gentlemen here developed a new way to increase the strength of our ships. You remember Sanctuary and her accident?" Admiral Thorn asked.

"Yes," Admiral Stryker said.

"Well after she disappeared, we conducted a full investigation into what may have happened. We got nowhere, since it was brand new technology. We may never have all the answers, but I designed the engines," Chief Talbot said.

"I don't see how this can be important?" Admiral Stryker said.

"We are getting to that. You see, one of our scientist engineers, Calah Lorene, redesigned the engine and it Sanctuary was sent out using a different design. The Chief advisor to President Adar, Admiral Corman, agreed that it was a cheaper and better solution than the original engines I created. However, in reality the engines design was completely wrong, and the wrong calculations lead to the disaster. From reports that the X.O. of Sanctuary sent to you, a majority of the scientist and engineering staff died including Lorene. But this leads us to the very things we wanted to talk to you about; we created a prototype engine that works," Chief Talbot said.

"What do you mean it works? An Antimatter engine?" Admiral Stryker asked.

"Yes," Dr. Falkernberg said, "the design that Chief Talbot created and my antimatter chamber can be made to work. We created engines that will work sir. Not only will these new engines work, but they will allow ten times more energy for the jump engines at a distance that's simply not possible with the current engines. It will also allow us to implement the new energy armor that we are developing here, as well as the improving laser and pulse laser technology."

"Doc, can you explain this a little more?" Admiral Stryker asked.

"Yes sir, currently our ships use ion-fusion drives as jump engines, and fusion energizers to power the ships systems. Half of the energizers power goes to the jump engines, but with the new antimatter engines this works differently. The antimatter reactor is inside of the engine block and gives enough energy for constant jumps. Of course the hull will also need to be retrofitted to hold the constant pressure. All the current energizers can be replaced with a new generation of fusion energizers that will be for all the other systems; like weapons, life support, and more importantly that new energy armor we mentioned before," Dr. Falkernberg said.

"On what principal does that armor work?" Admiral Stryker asked.

"It is different because it uses energy to strengthen it. Each kinetic or energy hit on it, fills it with energy and makes it stronger. Of course numerous hit on one area will eventually overload it and break it down, but it will keep the ship safe and without casualties even if it were hit by a 50 kiloton nuke and maybe even a 100 kiloton nuke, but I would not like to bet the farm on it. The main blast will be redirected outward, and only about 5 to 10 kilotons would actually hit the ship," Dr. Falkernberg said.

"Dr. Falkernberg, are you talking about energy shields?" Admiral Stryker asked incredulously.

"It is similar to energy shield technology, but since we still have only blueprints and we are decades away from deploying it, we can only guess the way it will work. Energy shields are believed to work on the principal that an invincible force field would be created by shield generators on board the ship. They are elliptical around the ship and they can stop any kinds of attacks in theory; from missiles, gun batteries, and even energy based weapons. Energy armor we can say to be a predecessor to this technology. On standard ship armor, we add a new layer of this armor powered by a layer of energy, and it protects the ship. Once breached, the standard armor continues until is breached as well," Dr. Falkernberg said.

"Hmm, and how long do you need to create this technology?" Admiral Stryker asked.

"That depends, sir. We can finish and install antimatter engines on say the Theseus, since she was mostly a test-bed ship. If everything goes right, we can continue work on the armor itself," Dr. Falkernberg said.

"Alright then, if Admiral Thorn approves, you are clear to do it. Keep me informed on your progress," Admiral Stryker said.

**Later on the way to shuttle bay...**

"So what do you think?" Admiral Thorn asked.

"Well, if I said that all that is more or less science fiction, you would say spaceships are science fiction too, and here we are in space," Admiral Stryker replied.

"Yes it's weird, but with this kind of technology we can strengthen our ships to double no, triple their current defensive strength and with that we can beat the Cylons," Admiral Thorn said confidently.

"If you allow them to install them on your ship fine, and if it works they are free to continue. But if they fail, the project is closed, for now. You see I do not have the resources or the time to work on science fiction, only science fact," Admiral Stryker said sternly.

"You really don't have science blood in you Mark?" Admiral Thorn asked.

"I was never interested in that, but like any good warmonger I like a new toy if it works," Admiral Stryker said smiling.

**A day later**

**Outskirts of Aerelon space**

A lone raptor sat in the dark of space, observing the comings and goings of the Cylons in the system. There were four baseships on the southern quadrant of the planet. Another was near the captured colonial ships behind the moon, and one was closer to the planet - right on top of the POW camps where the military personnel were being held, as well as the civilian POW camps in the vicinity. Moments later; Warstar Argona, and her escorting Battlestars Minerva, Pleiades, and Rycon, jumped in front of those baseships and started shelling them. A single stealth raptor jumped in range of the Cylon baseship near the moon and launched four 20Mt nukes at it, and then jumped away. Since it was short range and the Cylons were taken by surprise, they didn't have a chance. The baseship was hit and blown apart before it could even react.

The Warstar Argona was the first capital ship to start jamming of the Cylons as soon as she jumped in and all the other ships followed suit. At the same time, the Battlestar Atlantis and her two Defender class Gunstars Brusser and Modesto jumped in and started attacking the baseship in orbit. The baseship immediately reacted and launched dozens and dozens of missiles at Atlantis. But the worst part of it was that they also launched numerous missiles at the surface. Directly at the POW camps!

**Atlantis C.I.C **

"My gods, sir they're launching nuclear missiles at the planet!" Commander Haller said in panic.

"Blast them to hell, they were waiting for us; order the Gunstar Brusser and the ready interceptor raptors to jump into a lower orbit, and try to stop those damn missiles, and launch my vipers now!" Admiral Stryker shouted, praying that the Gunstar Brusser would be able to stop the nuke missiles. Or everything that they were doing would be for nothing.

**Gunstar Brusser C.I.C. **

"Colonel, the flagship wants us to jump into a lower orbit to stop those missiles," the communications officer said.

"Frak, initiate combat jump now," Colonel Fincher replied.

Moments later, the Gunstar Brusser and interceptor raptors jumped away and reappeared in a low orbit of Aerelon. Atlantis got in several good shots on the baseship, tearing her central axis apart, and in a matter of seconds the baseship ceased to exist. But not before it launched a new wave of missiles at Atlantis, all of them nuclear.

"Sir, the baseship is destroyed, but we have incoming nuclear missiles!" Commander Haller reported.

"How many?" Admiral Stryker asked.

"Fifteen Sir, all nuclear from the radiation signature," Commander Haller said.

"Frak, move Modesto closer and restart point defense grid and fire at will. Tell Major Morales to do her best to help us get the missiles as well," Admiral Stryker said.

...

"Alright people, the boss wants those missiles gone, so let go get them, fire at will," Major Kathy 'Queen Hammer' Morales said while pointing her fighter directly into the path of the missiles.

A few short seconds later, between the vipers and Atlantis' and Modesto's defense grids, all the missiles expect for one was destroyed, but then that one was destroyed personally by the Major herself, barely fifty meters short of Atlantis.

**Gunstar Brusser C.I.C.**

"Sir, all fighters are launched and are intercepting the missiles, but half a dozen are still moving toward the military POW camps," Lieutenant Ross reported.

"Put us into the missiles' path, and concentrate all available fire on those missiles!" Colonel Fincher said.

The Gunstar Brusser moved into a new position; it was relatively hard to keep this position because of the atmospheric winds, but the defense grid destroyed all but two of the nukes that passed through.

"Frak two are getting through! Sir they will hit us!" Lieutenant Ross said frantically.

"All hands brace for impact, all Viper and Raptors get clear of the blast," Colonel Fincher said.

Both missiles hit Gunstar Brusser with their full force. The Old Gunstar did her best, but she did not have a chance. She broke into three large sections before she exploded into a thousand pieces, but she did stop the nukes from hitting their targets on the surface thus saving tens of thousands of lives.

**Atlantis C.I.C.**

In Atlantis C.I.C everyone was silent; watching the monitors as the explosions of the old Gunstar was a hard hit for them. Especially for Admiral Stryker, who had lost a few people under his command, but never a whole ship before!

"Gods!" was the only word that came out of Commander Haller's mouth.

It took several seconds before the Admiral broke the silence. Still shocked, he ordered, "Launch the recovery and marine boarding raptors to those ships, and signal the extraction fleet to get a move on as we have a rescue mission. Major Morales and her squadrons will clear the skies for the transports. Now People Move!"

Everyone returned to life again in Atlantis' C.I.C, and in a few minutes the extraction ships jumped in and started descending to the planet. While a group of raptors exited the Atlantis' bays and jumped to the nearby Battlestars in orbit of the Aerelon moon.

"Tell the surviving fighters from the Gunstar Brusser to land on our decks once their mission is over," Admiral Stryker said looking at Commander Haller.

Argona and her fleet destroyed the Cylon baseships in their area, and since it was a surprise attack the Cylons barely launched any raiders. But they did launch missiles, two of them nukes that hit Minerva, but she shrugged them off and continued her mission.

At the same time, a short battle over Caprica was over; with no casualties to the ships. The Cylon baseships were destroyed, and as planned all military ships stood in defensive positions in case the Cylons counterattacked while the extraction fleet descended to the planet, led by two Assaultstars and four Colossus heavy transports.

**Cylon Occupied Caprica**

General O'Rilley put his plan into motion the moment the attack started in orbit, and started attacking Cylon strongholds on the edge of Caprica city. Blowing up the Cylon strongholds one by one into little pieces, as he no longer had to conserve his ammo and weapons any longer. He turned his marines loose on the Cylons and it was payback time.

**Caprica City Cylon HQ **

"Blast it, colonial ships just jumped in and they took out our baseship, and they are jamming the entire area: so we cannot call for help. Also, we cannot send a heavy raider for help either as they destroyed our airbases at the same time they destroyed the baseships," one of the Dorals said.

"General O'Rilley has started attacking us as well," one of the sixes added.

"It will take hours before those killed will resurrect and we get some reinforcements. We must hold till then," one of the number four models said.

**Near Caprica**

Four Gunstars and a Cradle dock materialized near the intact support dock. The Gunstars started moving into a defensive position and launched their vipers, while the dock moved into position and prepared to transfer the Battlestar Sleipnir into its dock.

**To be continued...**


	10. 1x10 Firestorm pt2

**Firestorm Part 2**

**Time plus 25 minutes:**

Twenty five minutes had passed since the start of the attacks at Aerelon and Caprica. The extraction of the civilian and military POWs from Aerelon and Caprica was well underway and proceeding as planned. The Battlestars Vanguard and Chimera, the two Bezerk class support ships Glacier and Tigon, seven gunstars, six battlecruisers, four heavy cruisers, eight light cruisers, three destroyers, three firestars, and seven strikestars of the captured warships near the Aerelon moon had been manned with the military POWs and jumped to the designated location of the cradle docks. While they were there, they were going through a complete inspection to remove any remaining Cylon troops and traps on board, and they would be getting new programming and safeguards to replace the CNP program.

**On Aerelon, time plus 30 minutes:**

All 200,000 civilians had been evacuated from the planet. The 32,000 surviving Military POW's personnel were loaded aboard the recaptured warships as well. It was found that the highest ranking POW was Admiral Kelly Sounders who had survived the capture of her Battlestar and was put in one of the POW camps. Admiral Stryker gave orders for all ship to jump and join him in Caprica orbit except for the civilian ships which jumped to the rally point to join the fleet gathering there so that the Cylons could be weeded out before the trip to the Red Horse Nebula where the next stage of the trip would be planned and executed.

**Picon – Cylon Command Baseship**

"Jack, we lost contact with both Aerelon and Caprica over thirty minutes ago," a number four said.

"What do you mean, we lost contact?" Jack Cavil asked outraged.

"Lost it! As in it seems those two planets are being jammed. We can't get in touch with anyone there," the four said.

"Send the heavy raiders to find out what is going on. I want to know what is going on as soon as possible as this may be the colonial attack I have been expecting," Jack Cavil said.

**Caprica Orbit time plus 40 minutes:**

It was rushed to say the least in and around Caprica's orbit. Civilian ships had already landed on the surface of the planet and were picking up survivors. So far over 600,000 had made it to the evacuation ships and were on the way to rally point one. Two dozen new civilian ships jumped to Caprica to help with the extraction of as many civilians from there as possible. General O'Rilley continued his fight against the Cylons and with the help of the vipers and armed raptors from the fleet in orbit; the Colonial forces pushed the Cylons back into smaller and smaller pockets around the capital, and some of the other major cities. The Cylons were losing a lot of centurions in the process. The Cradle dock ship ordered to pick up the Sleipnir class Battlestar had already moved the half-finished Battlestar into its dock and jumped away to the rally point.

**Battlestar Atlantis C.I.C.**

"Sir, Cradle 1 and her escorts just jumped out and they have the Battlestar Sleipnir and a lot of supplies for her from the dock she was in. From what I can see of the inventory, there's more than enough to finish her and then some. If I may make a suggestion sir, I would suggest that we have the tugs grab as many of the wrecked Battlestars and Gunstars, and place them in the dock and then jump all of it to the rally point with the tugs FTL units. With a little bit of time, we may be able to convert the dock into a mobile dock, and even if the ships cannot be repaired they can be scrapped for resources," Commander Haller reported.

"That is a very good idea. Get the tugs on it ASAP. What's the status of the evacuation and the reactivation of the defensive satellites?" Admiral Stryker asked.

"Sir, we have over 600,000 evacuated so far. General O'Rilley has already started rallying his troops, and he is also bringing his tanks, a lot of Landrams, and Phoenix VTOLS with him. I would say he might like to use them on the Cylons on other colonies as well," Commander Haller said.

"If we have time, he will have the chance to do just that in the future. Right now, we need to speed this up as the Cylons could be here any time now. I do not want any of our ships sitting on the surface if we can help it," Admiral Stryker said.

"I doubt they would attack us here Sir? There are too many Battlestars and Gunstars in orbit, as well as the defensive stations and satellites which are all in a position to repel just such an attack," Commander Haller said confidently.

"You forget Commander that is what we thought about Virgon with Admiral Nagala and the fleet, and he had a lot more warships than we do. Also, this is not going to be a straight up fight if I can help it. We are going to use guerilla warfare against the Cylons and we will only attack them when the advantage is ours as we cannot replace our losses as fast as they can. The Cylons still have a large force here in the Cyrannus system. So we are outnumbered and outgunned by a factor of four or more to one. Do not forget that we planned to leave Caprica in fifteen more minutes, and if we stay longer it will only be because the Cylons are giving us that extra time," Admiral Stryker said without hesitation, knowing that his order could leave untold thousands on the surface to the mercy of the Cylons.

A lone heavy raider jumped to the edge of Caprica space. For a few moments it scanned Caprica and the fleet in orbit, and then jumped away to Aerelon to do the same.

"What is it Commander?" Admiral Stryker asked seeing that the Commander was somewhat depressed.

"Sir, my family lives on the Tibertus continent of Caprica, near the main Tibertus mountain range. They have a cottage there," Commander Haller said.

"You think they are still alive?" Admiral Stryker asked.

"I don't know sir, I simply don't know," Commander Haller said worriedly.

"Alright, Lieutenant let's send a raptor to the Tibertus mountain range. The Commander can give you the coordinates so that the raptor can start a search for survivors. If they are alive they will be rescued Commander," Admiral Stryker said.

"Thank you sir," Commander Haller said.

"Don't think about it. I would do this for any of my crew. Lieutenant, send a message to all our raptors and relay the order to other ships in the fleet. I want every single survivor off the surface as soon as possible. And any ship that is already full is to jump to the rally point as soon as they are full and safe to jump, they do not need to wait for my orders to do so," Admiral Stryker said.

"Yes sir," the communications officer said.

**Time plus 60 minutes:**

"Sir, we just had a bogie jump out on dradis!" the dradis officer said.

"What do you mean had?" Admiral Stryker asked.

"Our sensors detected an FTL jump point. Something small jumped out, my guess would be a raider or heavy raider," the dradis officer said.

"But how did we not detect it sooner?" Commander Haller asked.

"I don't know sir, but I believe it must be because it was on the very edge of our dradis range and moved in from there," the dradis officer said.

"Blast, that mean we don't have much time. Send the evacuation orders to all ships to begin the withdrawal from the surface, I do not want any ships on the ground. We will continue with raptors and FTL shuttles only. Orders to all Battlestar; they are to launch their ready reserve vipers and to get ready for a Cylon attack with Basestars, raiders, and heavy raiders using nukes. All of the defensive stations and satellites are ready and should jump at this time. The tugs need to secure from salvage operations and jump the damaged dock and the salvaged ships out ASAP. May the lords of Kobol be kind to us this day and give us a little more time too," Admiral Stryker said.

**Picon – Cylon Command Baseship**

"The heavy raiders just returned. They're reporting that a large colonial force is currently over Caprica. There is nothing in orbit of Aerelon, but the wreckage of our Baseships and raiders. The captured warships and survivors in the POW camps are gone, as well as the defensive stations and satellites," one of the sixes reported.

"How many ships, what type, and how did they remove the defensive stations and satellites?" Gary Doral asked.

"Well that is not very hard to figure out. They simply cleared the CNP program and used the FTL units on the larger defensive stations to jump them to who knows where, and the smaller defensive satellites were simply docked with the main defensive stations for the jump. It would only take a crew of ten to man the stations with a skeleton crew, but as many as 500 to 1500 could be placed onboard. And let us not forget that each of the 6 stations and the 36 smaller anti-missile/raider satellites have the same firepower as a mercury class battlestar," Jack Cavil said.

"Currently at Caprica, there are at least twelve Battlestars, two Warstars and at least six Gunstars. There could be more on the other side of the planet, but the heavy raiders did not stay long enough to find out. Plus there's a large number of civilian ships that have landed on the planet's surface, as well as others in orbit, so now we know why they were gathering so many old ships from all over the colonies. Some of the civilian ships were jumping out after our raider arrived, so it seems that they are either evacuating survivors or bringing in more to the surface. And if the defensive stations from Aerelon join those at Caprica, they can add the equivalent firepower of at least 12 Mercury class battlestars to the ships they have in orbit," the Six said.

"Frak! What about our forces on the ground?" Jack Cavil asked.

"No response, the colonials are jamming the entire system," the Six replied.

"So your plan isn't going as well as you thought it would?" Gary Doral said watching Cavil's face.

"Actually I expected this; as I said before, I was waiting for the Colonials to make the first move, and they just did. I expected correctly that they would hit Caprica first, because a vast majority of the survivors are on that colony. I didn't however expect their attack on Aerelon. Blast, we lost all of the captured ships there, and it looks like they also removed all six of the large defensive satellites when they left as well, and we can assume that they will do the same at Caprica if we give them the time, and we cannot give them more time," Jack Cavil said.

"In short it didn't work out as you planned," Gary Doral pressed, elated at how this disaster was affecting Jack Cavil.

"No Gary, it did not, but nevertheless this could actually work out to our favor," Jack Cavil said.

"And would you mind sharing with the rest of us how this could work out in our favor?" Gary Doral asked persistently.

"They believe that even with those ships and defensive stations that they will be safe. But there is no safe place for them. We will attack and destroy them piece by piece, but that is all in good time. We waited long enough for them to lead us to their hidden base or planet that they are hiding at. I want every colonial ship that tries to reach any of the other colonies to be intercepted and destroyed. I think we have given them more than enough time and resources. And now it is time to start taking it away," Jack Cavil said.

"Do you realize that if your brother learns that you allowed more than two million people to survive that you are going to be boxed, or worse erased, you know that John doesn't take failures very well," Gary Doral said.

"I am quite familiar with my brother's methods, but since this is my playground I make the rules. Every ship you find is to be destroyed, until we are able to find their main staging ground and attack them en masse," Jack Cavil said.

"What about Caprica? We need to send ships and to destroy them or at least destroy most of their military forces?" one of the threes said.

"Yes, I believe that would be the proper course of action. But we don't know if this fleet in orbit of Caprica is all they have. There are too many civilian ships out there that survived and the last count put the number at a little over ten thousand ships still not accounted for. And yes I know that we are finding and destroying or capturing an average of six civilian ships each day, but that still leaves a lot of ships out there. And let's not forget that both of the Aerelon and Virgon Guards ships are still not present here, or accounted for since the attacks. This leads me to the conclusion that the colonials have more ships somewhere, and by this I mean more military ships," Jack Cavil explained.

"Jack has a point, there could be more colonial ships just waiting us to attack their force in orbit of Caprica. And when we do, they will jump in on top of us. We have already lost too many ships, and thanks to John we can't build that many ships to replace those destroyed," one of the twos said.

"From the start of our attack on the humans, you and your fellow ones were all for the need that all humans needed to be exterminated, that we had to destroy them in one single attack. Since when have you started to be so patient?" a three asked.

"Because I am not as arrogant or as aggressive as my brother John, after all I'm using my brain much more than my brothers are," Jack Cavil said.

"Oh I would like to see that for a change," a six said smiling.

"Don't smile too much sister, my brother made the plan for the attack on the humans, but he did not create a plan B in case his plan failed. I on the other hand have. Yes, rushing and trying to find every human ship is almost an impossible task. Too many resources were lost or wasted in the attack on the Colonies, and after that," Jack Cavil said.

"So you don't plan to do anything about the Colonial warships currently in orbit of Caprica?" Gary Doral asked.

"Actually I do! It's your mission," Jack Cavil said grinning evilly.

"Mine? What do you mean mine?" Gary Doral asked confused.

"You will go now to your Dreadstar and its escorting fleet of Basestars, and take back Caprica. Your job is to destroy as many enemy ships you can, but leave the civilian ships untouched as much as possible," Jack Cavil said.

"It would take twenty minutes to get my ships to Caprica, by then Colonials may already be gone," Gary protested.

"That is a risk that you must take, but I doubt that they will go anywhere until you show up and if the Admiral in charge over there is stupid, he will stand and fight. If he stands and fights, then this will be over before it even begins. Now GO!" Jack Cavil ordered.

Gary Doral left the command room, and he was upset by Jack giving him this kind of mission. He doesn't like having to use his basestars to go destroy as many human ships as possible! But the timing of this was not good. This would only reveal his mighty ship, the dreadstar, to the humans, and he didn't want that - at least not yet.

**Caprica Orbit - Battlestar Atlantis C.I.C.**

"Sir, we just got a message from Admiral Thorn. He wanted to inform you that Operation Black Arrow just started," Commander Haller said, "by the way sir, what is Operation Black Arrow? I do not remember it being part of the briefings up to this point."

"That Commander is a small side project planned and commanded by Admiral Thorn. He planned to send the Stealthstar Banshee into Cylon space, and to destroy everything they could in the next month or so before returning to our home base," Admiral Stryker said.

"How can one Stealthstar do that job sir? I mean even loaded with nukes, she would not survive for very long if the Cylons caught her," Commander Haller said worriedly.

"Let's hope they don't then, and besides with a majority of their forces here in the colonies or off chasing the Battlestar Galactica, we have a priceless chance to destroy their mining and communication installations, and maybe even a shipyard or two. And let's remember that as he puts the heat on the Cylons, they will have to move more of their ships home; which will give us the chance that we need to strike a deathblow to the fleet at Picon," Admiral Stryker said.

"I also don't understand why we're going for Picon first; we know from our Cylon prisoners where to find the Hub and their large mobile shipyards they have somewhere outside of Cyrannus. What about those assets?" Commander Haller asked.

"All in good time, and besides; from our communications intercepts we know that the Cylons have moved their Hub into orbit of Picon, along with one of their Command Basestars. There are at least 15 standard Basestars that are guarding the hub. So as soon as we are done here, we will rearm, and repair all of our ships, and then we are going to pay Picon and the Cylons a visit," Admiral Stryker said.

"Sir, you don't seriously plan on attacking the Cylon forces in orbit of Picon do you?" Commander Haller asked incredulously.

"Yes Commander that is exactly what I'm planning on doing. Right now, the Cylons already know of our little incursion on Aerelon and Caprica, and they know that we are either taking survivors or setting up shop. It is logical that they will attack to prevent this, and they will attack. But if they have a Command ship at Picon, that is the central ship for every Cylon force in this system, and we destroy it and the Hub, then we will in effect cripple the Cylons for a long time. Also, we may prevent them from possible future attack on our main fleet," Admiral Stryker said.

Commander Haller was astonished. He noticed that after the destruction of the Gunstar Brusser, Admiral Stryker had changed. He had become much darker, and more ready to attack the Cylons than he was before. Knowing his tactical ability, he knew that the Admiral had good reasons for it.

"How many people have we managed to save so far?" Admiral Stryker asked.

"So far, all that have made it to the evacuation ships number a little over one point two million, it would definitely not be comfortable for them, but at least they will survive," Commander Haller replied.

"What about raptors that are searching for people in the remote areas?" Admiral Stryker asked.

"They have found a few hundred sir; including a small resistance group in the mountains led by Samuel T Anders and the rest of the Caprican Buccaneers," Commander Haller said.

"Your family?" Admiral Stryker asked.

"Nothing yet Sir," Commander Haller said sadly.

"I am sorry Commander," Admiral Stryker said, "What about General O'Rilley's forces?"

"They are finishing loading the marines into the Assaultstars sir, along with their equipment," Commander Haller said.

"Good, we are leaving in five minutes," Admiral Stryker said.

"But sir, our scans of the planet shows that there are over 150,000 survivors still on the planet!" Commander Haller exclaimed in denial.

"Yes I know, but we cannot stay much longer. We are also already full on almost every ship, so we do not have the space even if we have the time. I do not think that we will have the time either though. The fleet is to hold their jump clocks at T-Minus 5 seconds. We will pick up as many as we can and put them on the warships," Admiral Stryker said.

**4 minutes 45 seconds later...**

"Sir, the last civilian ship has jumped; the defensive stations and satellites are gone, there's only the Assaultstars and the two Colossus heavy transports left and they're just now exiting the atmosphere," the communications officer said.

"Good prepare..." Admiral Stryker started to say before being interrupted.

"Dradis contact at six thousand kilometers in front of us!" the dradis officer yelled.

"How many and what is their IFF?" Admiral Stryker asked.

"There are twelve ships sir, and the IFF is…. Colonial Sir! It's the Eleventh Marine Expeditionary Division! IFF codes are confirmed, they are ours. Iocaste Actual is on the Alpha channel for you sir," the communications officer reported.

"This is Atlantis Actual to Iocaste Actual, it is good to see you. We do not have much time to talk as I expect the Cylons will be along any time now. We are sending you a set of jump coordinates to jump to and we will meet you there in a few minutes, or as soon as we have recovered the last of our raptors," Admiral Stryker said.

"This is Iocaste Actual to Atlantis Actual. We have the Coordinates and will see you on the other side," Iocaste Actual said.

Fifteen second later the Assaultstar Iocaste and her marine group jumped to rally point one, and no sooner had they FTL jumped out than when the inevitable happened.

"Dradis contact at thirty thousand kilometers in front of us!" the dradis officer yelled, "there are twenty Basestars and rising sir. The final count is at fifty Basestars Sir!"

"Are they in weapons range?" Admiral Stryker asked.

"No sir, they will be in less than a minute," the dradis officer said.

"Put on them on the main screen, and order all vipers to make combat landings on their Battlestars. Send the word to any raptors to get the hell out and stop what they are doing. If they cannot make it to the Battlestars, they can jump to the rally point and we will meet them there," Admiral Stryker said.

Admiral Stryker looked at the main screen, and watched the large Cylon fleet that was in front of him. He noticed that they were launching raiders, and also there was one very large ship in the middle of the Cylon fleet; much larger than any other Cylon ship, and a pair of smaller, yet larger than standard, baseships. He then realized those ships must belong to the guarding fleet of the Cylon mobile shipyard.

"Sir they are launching missiles, I'm counting approximately 10,000 of them, and almost half of them are nukes," the dradis officer said in panic.

"All vipers have finished their combat landings sir," the operations officer reported.

"All ships, initiate combat jump now! It's time to go," Admiral Stryker said, "Time to missiles impact?"

"40 seconds. Weapons free, fire at will!" Commander Haller said.

Admiral Stryker was relieved as that was more than enough time to jump away.

Ship after ship disappeared in bright flashes; after only 10 seconds only the Atlantis, Polaris, and the Assaultstars were left. But soon even they jumped away as well. Seconds after all the ships jumped, thousands of missiles passed the place where the colonial warships had been and entered the atmosphere of Caprica. Many exploded in midair, but those that were on a relatively good course continued descending until they finally hit the ground. Caprica was nuked for the second time in less than two months by the Cylons, and this time even harder than the first time.

The explosions of so many nuclear missiles – many of those in and over 100 megatons caused the total destruction of Caprica's surface. Some nukes hit old dormant volcanoes, activating them again after hundreds of thousands of years of sleep. In less than an hour, after the second nuclear strike, the surface of Caprica was no longer capable of sustaining any form of life, from the gasses and ashes, to the strong earthquakes and tidal forces: the planet was dead.

Gary Doral watched from the command room of his Dreadstar, angry that he had failed to destroy any of the colonial warships and that he ordered the jump too far from the colonial ships. But also was in shock when he realized what he had done to Caprica. He completely forgot to give the order for the self-destruct of the missiles, and the force of almost 10,000 missiles hit the planet, 5,000 of them nukes. Now he initiated a polar shift on Caprica, by awaking several of the most dangerous volcanoes on the surface; effectively killing all the remaining Cylons and humans on Caprica.

"Nice work Gary," one of the sixes in the room said sarcastically, "you destroyed a planet, and when Jack finds out about this, he will be the end of you."

"I didn't want this to happen. I only wanted to destroy the colonial fleet as I was commanded to do," Gary replied still watching the planet in shock. By now Caprica was glowing red with lava flowing over the surface. He could see the Oceans slowly disappearing and large eruptions from all sides, consuming what was once the most beautiful planet in the Cyrannus system. "My gods, what have I done," Gary said quietly to himself.

Gary didn't realize that it was his ship that was actually the most responsible for this, since his ship was the only ship capable of launching the new 250mt nukes except for the command baseship at Picon. It was several of these nukes that set off one of the oldest caldera type volcanoes.

Of all the colonies, Caprica was now the only one not capable of holding any type of life. Although the changes on Caprica were cataclysmic, they don't blow the planet to pieces. But Caprica was left a barren volcanic world, with no chance of terra forming. Her entire surface would become one large pool of lava and volcanoes, and the oceans would become lakes of acid, and this would take less than a week.

**Cylon Space – Stealthstar Banshee**

"Sir, one of our stealth birds reported about a Cylon orbital facility and a city on the third planet in the Danthus system. It appears that we have found their main system?" Major Cella said.

"But we did not find their main ship production facility. They must have moved it closer to the colonies. Never mind, we will hit this secondary production facility and those ground stations. That city must be their production and refining factory. What about their defenses?" Colonel Marciel asked.

"Two Basestars are in orbit and a few squadrons of raiders are on patrol. There are no defense platforms around the facility or the planet. I cannot say what will be on the ground, but we are not getting anything on dradis," Major Cella reported.

"Very well, let's do this quick; I don't want to be here for long. Tell battle raptors 1 through 4 to jump to baseship alpha and nuke it to hell; battle raptors 5 through 8 to do the same with baseship beta. We will deal with the station and any ground forces, and as soon as the baseships explode, launch all our vipers to cover us while we are engaging our targets. Point defenses are free to engage when we do," Colonel Marciel said.

The Banshee moved forward, thankfully her stealth worked fine and the Cylons didn't detect them. As planned, the raptors moved from Banshee's bay and jumped directly to the Baseships. Both baseships exploded when hit by multiple 10 Megaton nukes. The Banshee turned off her stealth systems and start ed launching nuclear missiles and firing her guns on the Cylon facility in orbit of Dantius. Banshee was a Stealthstar and the only one of her kind ever built. She was saved thank to her previous commander who was killed when several conducts exploded as result of battle damage. She was armed with 16 Battlestar sized KEW turret guns capable of tearing apart a baseship. She also had over 30 missile launchers that could be armed with nukes or other conventional ordinances, and between her 20 vipers and her point defense guns - she was a real killer of raiders

The limited point defenses on the Cylon facility took down a few of the incoming missiles, but a majority of them hit the large Cylon production facility destroying it completely. The Banshee then moved forward launching a second volley on the planet, annihilating everything on the surface as the Cylons were taken completely by surprise and they did not even get their defenses online long enough to destroy more than a quarter of the incoming nukes.

Just as Banshee had come, she disappeared swiftly and quietly like a ghost in the black abyss of space. For the first time the Cylons would know what it was to face fear.

**A little over an hour after escape from Caprica**

**Rally Point Alpha**

Two cradle dockships sat at the designated jump point alpha and both Battlestars that they saved were inside and undergoing a complete search and survey of their charges. The other military supports had already been searched due to their smaller size.

Civilian ships were also present as well as the returning military fleet. In almost thirty minutes of searching the fleet, twenty one Cylons were found on board the evacuation fleet and six more in the ships of the Eleventh Marines. In accordance with the established protocol, they were executed. Admiral Stryker believed that they couldn't find alpha jump point, so he was calm when he ordered the executions of all the Cylons found in the fleet.

**Atlantis C.I.C.**

"Sir, you better look this," Commander Haller said, "this was sent to us a few minute ago; recorded after our departure from Caprica, by our spy satellite in orbit. Please look closely Admiral."

Admiral Stryker watched in horror as 10,000 missiles struck Caprica, some exploding in the atmosphere, but a vast majority continued on to the surface. A few seconds later, he saw the biggest bombardment in his lifetime. During the first Cylon attack, the Cylons targeted population centers and bases with low yield nukes to prevent damage to the planets. But now Caprica was being hit by a very large amount of high yield nuclear warheads with no regard for the damage or locations of where the nukes hit. Admiral Stryker observed how many of the nukes hit the dormant volcanoes and calderas, waking them up with a catastrophic effect to the rest of the planet.

Commander Haller fast-forwarded thirty minutes and the entire C.I.C was in shock seeing that Caprica was not as blue as she was before. She was now becoming a red ball of fire, full of volcanic eruptions, gasses and large waves of water becoming acidic. The Cylons that were on the planet as well as the remaining stranded humans were already dead, or would be in a matter of hours. Nothing would survive on Caprica, nor could anything live there for several millennia if not longer.

"They destroyed Caprica," one of the young female technicians said with tears in her eyes.

Admiral Stryker went to her, putting a hand on her shoulder, opened a channel to the entire fleet, and said in a loud voice so that the entire C.I.C could hear, "We must be strong! Many of you are from Caprica, and many of you had families and homes there that are now gone. If we ever had plans to return here, that plan is now a failure. The Cylons will pay for all of this! They will pay for the destruction of Caprica and for the attempted extermination of the entire human race. We will not stop! I will not stop! Not until every last one of them is dead. Now we have work to do and our people to get to Avalon, so focus your grief to make sure that we will be ready to destroy the Cylons when the time comes. We will have a lot of work ahead of us and we will need to pick new leaders that understand that this war is all or nothing. We tried it their way and now it will be our turn to do it right, even if it takes a thousand years. We will not forgive or forget! So Say We All!"

An additional thirty minutes were needed before all ships were checked for Cylons and those ships that were taken from the Cylons were checked for traps and possible centurions on board. All ships were cleared of any tracking devices. Still, they will spent some time in the docks once they returned to the Red Horse Nebula just to ensure for Admiral Stryker, and the other Admirals and Commanders, that everything was in order and ready for the upcoming action against the Cylons at Picon.

The Eleventh Marine Expeditionary Division ships were slotted into the fleet and were a welcome site to the civilians and military alike. The Eleventh had escaped the destruction of the fleet and the colonies because they were on a mission to hunt down the pirates around an asteroid belt and destroy their base of operations; a mission that they had succeeded in just before the attack on the colonies. General Conrad Williams wanted to return as soon as the word of the attack arrived, but Rear Admiral Johnathan Kincaid talked him out of it as they did not know until after the fight at Virgon how the Cylons were shutting down our ships, so they fixed that and started to scout the enemy. After that, the Eleventh had waited to join up with a colonial battle group to take the war to the Cylons. So it was very fortunate that a raptor was in a position to see the colonial fleet attack at Caprica.

**Picon – Command Baseship**

"I'll kill him! Who gave him permission to take the entire defense fleet to Caprica? And who gave him the order to fire on the planet itself? I always knew that he was an idiot, but now this is a record for his stupidity!" Jack Cavil said furiously, after finding out what Gary Doral had done to Caprica.

"Relax Jack, he fired on the Colonial fleet, but they jumped just before the missiles could touch them," one of the sixes said.

"Then why the hell did he not self-destruct the damn missiles?" Jack Cavil asked.

"I don't know, he must have forgotten to order the self-destruct?" a number two said.

"Really, he forgot to stop 10,000 missiles from hitting the Fracking planet? We lost a lot of our brothers and sisters, not to mention the hundreds of thousands of combat centurions, raiders and heavy raiders that were still operational, and we lost a perfectly good planet, thanks to that crazy overconfident idiot," Jack Cavil said angrily.

"Look who's talking, I believe it's you that planned many a plan that failed," Gary Doral said while entering the room.

"You! I should order you boxed, no your execution and erasure. I did not tell you to move the entire defense fleet from our shipyard, just your dreadstar and escorts. But no, what did you do, you moved the entire fleet and bombed Caprica into a useless hell," Jack Cavil said.

"That is not my fault. The colonial ships jumped away just before the missiles could strike them and they were already at the edge of the atmosphere," Gary Doral said.

"Oh, now they are guilty? Did you really expect that they would stay just for you? Just to be hit by your missiles? You are more of an idiot than I thought before," Jack Cavil said.

"Well in a few dozen years Caprica will heal itself and we will able to take it again," Gary Doral said, trying to bluff Cavil to calm him, but the bluff didn't work.

"A few dozen years? It will take a thousand, if not millions of years for Caprica to be a planet capable of sustaining life again, you cracked her crust to pieces," one of the sixes said, outraged.

"Never mind Caprica, it's lost, we have another problem," a number three said, "I just received a report that our secondary facility and mining city in the Danthus system have been destroyed, as well as all the mining outposts in the area."

"What? How is that possible?" Jack Cavil asked.

"Apparently this ship," the number three said while showing the picture of the colonial ship attacking the planet, "is an experimental Stealthstar, the Banshee. She destroyed both of the guarding baseships, the secondary shipyards, and the refinery mining city on the planet. Everything is lost there. I sent three baseships, but they reported that nothing survived. We will have to start from scratch for everything in the system."

"We also received a reported sighting of the Eleventh Marine Expeditionary Group near the belt, but they were nowhere to be found when the Basestars arrived to investigate," Jeremy Simon said.

"This is just great, more fracked up news, and not a single good item this whole fracked up day. What do you plan to do next Admiral Stryker?" Jack Cavil said furiously, but also in some weird way calmly; the colonials had just made their move, and it was time for him to make his move. But he still didn't know where the colonials were.

"I want to double the patrols in orbit around the remaining colonies. We will increase the number of ships in the Cyrannus system and I want the humans to be found. This is getting out of control, and we need to contain it before John returns. We will need to take all of the captured humans and all of the captured ships that are military or civilian to Picon. The POW camps are still in use here so we will use them. This will also give us a central processing station for the medical experiments and then the exterminations. I will also order for all the wrecks and stations around the colonies to be picked up and moved to Picon, and this will stop the constant raids by the colonials that are still out there. We will at some point have to bring the defensive stations and satellites to Picon as well. So as we clear a colony and declare it safe, and human free, we can move everything down to housekeeping levels and concentrate our forces; this will give us less to protect, and may allow us to set a trap by leaking some information to the colonials that we have all of their people at Picon," Jack Cavil said.

"We need to, wait a second? This was your plan and you let the colonials to expand. To find so many more usable warships and civilian ship, and they took two Battlestars and support ships that were in mint condition. So you give them a chance to fight Jack, and now you expect us to fix your mistake," a six said.

"Shut up, and do as I tell you, if John returns and sees all this, it will not be only me who will be in trouble," Jack Cavil said.

**Red Horse Nebula – 1 Day Later, Olympia Station Observation Deck**

Admiral Stryker stood on the observation deck watching the fleet; it was something that he did almost every day. The mission went well, but he lost a Gunstar and the planet itself. Not to mention over 150,000 people who were left on the surface to die when the missiles hit it. The Cylons might not have intended to destroy Caprica, but they did it. That big Cylon ship would be a huge threat to the fleet, and an after action report showed that the nukes were not of the standard size. From the size and from the shown capabilities of launching hundreds and hundreds, if not thousands, of missiles so quickly - it makes it the deadliest thing ever built by the Cylons. It must be destroyed, but first he had to deal with something much more real: the Cylon's Picon fleet. As he understood it, that was the command fleet. If he destroyed that fleet and the resurrection hub the Cylons kept in Picon orbit, then they might cripple the Cylons for a while. His thoughts were stopped when Admiral Kelly Sounders got closer and called out to him.

"I really didn't have a chance to thank you for rescuing us Mark," Admiral Sounders said.

"You don't need to Kelly," Admiral Stryker said.

"Well thank you again. And when the hell did you become an Admiral? The last time I checked, you were given command of Atlantis, and you were still a Commander," Admiral Sounders said.

"That is a long story that I can sum up with two words: Admiral Nagala. So how the hell did you end up in that POW camp?" Admiral Stryker asked.

"I was onboard the Battlestar Chimera at the time of the Cylon attack, on my way to Virgon to meet with Admiral Nagala and the Command staff. My ship was in for refit at that time at Scorpia. We were intercepted by the Cylons, and when Commander Beltran gave the order to engage the baseship the ship just shut itself off. The Cylons then sent us a message that if we resisted, we would all die. I didn't want to lose anyone on board, because it would be impossible to stop them. So I ordered our surrender. They moved us to the prison camp on Aerelon, along with the remaining crew of the Battlestar Vanguard," Admiral Sounders said.

"Remaining?" Admiral Stryker asked curiously.

"Yes, well apparently after being disabled the Vanguard's Commander refused to surrender and they engaged in a bloody fight with the Cylon centurions. They fought well, but they were outnumbered. The Cylons programmed their Centurions with special instructions to fire on any human with a weapon. After losing half of the ship, the remaining crew dropped their weapons and surrendered, but for his insolence the entire command staff of the Vanguard was executed. The Cylons were able to find several support ships from the docks in orbit of Aerelon, as well as from other areas around the colonies; they took those ships and put them near the Battlestars in orbit of the Aerelon moon so they could keep an eye on them," Admiral Sounders said.

"How did the Cylons treat the prisoners?" Admiral Stryker asked.

"There were 50,000 military personnel in the beginning. They were mostly picked up from wrecked ships, and from the damaged stations. A week later a strike was started, and a massive escape from the POW camps started. During the fight, over 3,000 people were killed, and an additional 10,000 were executed in the next two weeks as examples and for a variety of experiments. The rest died with time. Only those 32,000 that you picked up survived," Admiral Sounders said, "I must say I was in shock when I saw multiple ships landing all around us, and then the raptors and vipers were buzzing all around us. It was a fine site to see. I have a question for you. Shortly before we were rescued, we saw a large explosion in the sky. What was that?"

"That was the Gunstar Brusser, as we jumped into Aerelon orbit the Basestars that were keeping an eye on the POW camps launched nukes at you. The Brusser and her viper and raptor escorts tried to stop those nukes, and they succeeded, but the Brusser and her crew paid the price," Admiral Stryker said.

Admiral Sounders saw from Stryker's face that he didn't want to talk about it, so she only said "you have gathered a large fleet at this hidden base, so whatever you are going to do, you have my support."

"Thank you Kelly, so did you find a ship for yourself?" Admiral Stryker asked.

"Yes, I think I will make the Battlestar Rycon my flagship," Admiral Sounders said.

"Good, she is a fine ship with an experienced crew," Admiral Stryker said.

"So what is your next plan?" Admiral Sounders asked.

"Well I need to get the Command staffs together so we can make our plans for the attack at Picon. The Cylons have moved their resurrection Hub and their fleet Command Basestar there. If we can destroy those two units, we will stand a chance to end the Cylons overconfidence and their suicidal attacks. It will give us the breathing room we need to save more of our people and get them to Avalon. If the gods are with us, at some point in the near future we will be able to go on the offensive and take the war to the Cylons," Admiral Stryker said.

"Picon, so that is where the Cylon command ship and hub is. I would not have believed it if I had not read the reports your staff provided and talked to the Cylon information sources that you have in the brig here at the base. And you know that the generals will want to get in on the action?" Admiral Sounders said.

"Yes, and we will attack them very soon, and if we do this right we will be able to put a lot of pressure on the Cylons. After the attacks at Picon, we are leaving the Cyrannus system for Avalon. Let's set up a meeting for 1800 tomorrow and get all the commanding and executive officers of the warships, and the generals with their staffs, together so we can plan this out," Admiral Stryker said.

**A few hours later**

**Atlantis Flag Suite**

"Come in," Admiral Stryker said after hearing a knock on his doors.

The doors opened and Colonel Belzen entered the room.

"Ah Colonel, good to see you are up and about. Please come in and sit," Admiral Stryker said.

"Thank you sir, you wanted to see me?" Colonel Belzen asked.

"Yes I do. I see you are much better, and since I'm short on qualified officers you are back on duty. Before you ask, I also have a job for you. You are hereby ordered to take onto yourself the command of the Battlestar Vanguard," Admiral Stryker said handing the commander pin to the now shocked Colonel.

"Thank you sir!" Commander Belzen said and then saluted.

"Report to the Vanguard in the morning and keep her safe Commander," Admiral Stryker said and saluted back.

"One more thing Commander, very soon I'm planning to send a small fleet in search of the Battlestars Galactica and Pegasus. The Vanguard will lead that fleet and you will have an arrest warrant to serve to Admiral Cain. You have your orders for now so that is all. I'll see you tomorrow at the staff planning meeting," Admiral Stryker said.

**Near Cylon Space, System 045A-23F**

Battlestar Caprica jumped into the system following the trail of the Gunstar group. After the jump Commander Erickson was in shock when he realized that he was surrounded by Gunstars and they were all ready to fire at him.

"Commander, the lead Gunstar is demanding that we send our authentication codes," the communications officer reported.

"Send it, now lieutenant," Commander Erickson said.

**Gunstar Avalanche C.I.C.**

"Colonel, we have received the proper codes sir and it is the Battlestar Caprica," the communications officer said.

"So it's the Battlestar Caprica that's been shadowing us for the last few days, and we thought it was the Cylons," Colonel Stone said.

"What do we do now sir?" the XO asked.

"Sir, the Caprica is sending a large amount of information, and it seems that there are a lot of colonial ships that have survived, and they're in the Red Horse Nebula," the communications officer said.

"I'll be damned, ok signal the Caprica we will follow them in. Order the other Gunstars to form up on the Caprica," Colonel Stone ordered.

Caprica had stalked this group for days. She had believed it might be the group of remaining Gunstars when the decision was made and she jumped into the middle of them. Seven of the ten from the original Gunstar group survived, and all with some kind of damage. The Defenders were the Palmer, Caron, Edenton, Howler, Brooks. The Striker class Gunstar was Adamant, and the Command Titan II class Gunstar was the Avalanche.

**This is a list of all the Fleets assets after Firestorm Part II:**

**Military Section**

**BATTLESTARS** (22 total)  
>Theseus Upgraded Nova class: Theseus (2150)<br>Mercury class: Atlantis (2410), Polaris (2250), Trinity (2100) (under repairs), Vanguard (2100), Chimera (2100) Minerva class: Minerva (2500), Pleiades (2500), Hades (2250)  
>Valkyrie class: Valkyrie (1520), Poseidon (1510), Caprica (1480)<br>Skinfaxi class: Concordia (2200), Sleipnir – undergoing final construction on Eternity  
>Durga class: Victorious (2300)<br>Heracles class: Titan (2305) Columbia II subtype  
>Columbia II class: Athena (2320), Cerberus (2200), Rycon (2400), Phoebe (2200, under refit).<br>Geneva class: Freedom (2000), Independence (2000).

**WARSTARS** (2)  
>Andraste class: Argona (4000)<br>Daedalus class: Daedalus (3100)

**BATTLECRUISERS** (11)  
>Hoplite class: Hoplite (1200), Venitrix (1200), Janus (1200), Ceres (1200), Silvanus (1200).<br>Indomitable class: Greer (800), Hood (800), Indomitable (800), Pluto (800), Vulcan (800), Lares (800).

**HEAVY CRUISERS** (8)  
>Cataphract class: Cataphract (850), Javelin (850), Aether (850), Adder (850), Bacchus (850), Diana (850), Vesta (850), Aether (850).<p>

**GUNSTARS **(55)  
>Titan II class: Avalanche (920), Stiletto (800), Thaddeus (800), Calamity (744), Sturgeon (800), Stargazer (800), Redeemer (820), Albatross (800), Resurgence (800), Avenger (710), Aggressive (805), Black Widow (800), Damia (800), Medea (800), Diomedes (800), Eleusis (800), Ixion (800).<br>Vigilant class: Sournier (450), Hale (450), Eos (450), Sol (450).  
>Striker class: Striker (900), Avarice (900), Starfury (900), Adamant (890), Neptune (900).<br>Cygnus class: Styx (700), Hates (700), Hellion (700), Fortuna (700).  
>Miranda class: Miranda (450)<br>Defender class: Tigris (550), Claw (550), Storm (550), Altair (459), Modesto (551), Hook (500), Taurus (550), Harpy (550), Raven (520), Tower (450), Fury (500), Conflict (500), Peacekeeper (500), Tiber (500), Arachnid (500), Lauder (500), Lake (500), Palmer (480), Caron (500), Edenton (400), Howler (440), Brooks (400), Romulus (500), Remus (500).

**LIGHT CRUISERS** (13)  
>Byzantine class: Byzantine (500), Persia (500) Agamemnon (500), Ares (500), Argos (500), Cleo (500), Perses (500), Selene (500), Theia (500), Atropos (500), Themis (500), Metis (500), Hebe (500).<p>

**STEALTHSTAR** (1)  
>Banshee class: Banshee (800)<p>

**STRIKESTARS** (10 + 4)  
>Harrier class: Harrier (800), Crasher (820), Megaera (800), Hecate (800), Orpheus (800)<br>Fury class: Aventine (400), Melinoe (400), Trophonius (400), Delphi (400), Europa (400), (plus 4) -(remaining four were in storage on Unity).

**ASSAULTSTARS **(9) (1 ½ Divisions of Marines)  
>Forseti class: Forseti (1000 + 5000), Dillinger (1000 + 5000)<br>Iocaste class: Iocaste (2500 + 10000)  
>Lancer class: Grievance (700 + 1250), Vengeance (700 + 1250), Deimos (700)<br>Hector class: Minotaur (2500 + 8000) , Hermes (2500 + 8000), Centaurus (2500)

**DESTROYERS** (18)  
>Phalanx class: Phalanx (400) Gauntlet (400), Gearing (400), Anubis (400), Archer (400), Styxx (400)<br>Tiger II class: Panther (1000), Jaguar (1000), Hyena (1000), Puma (1000), Wildcat (1000), Leopard (1000), Nike (1000), Bia (1000), Zelos (1000), Spes (1000), Roma (1000), Saturn (1000).

**FIRESTARS** (9 +10)  
>Hawkeye class: Hawking (700), Star Rider (700), Danton (690), Strident (690), Buzzard (690), Tavern (700), Crete (700), Cilix (700), Phoenix (700) (Plus 10 remaining ships in storage on Unity).<p>

**ESCORTSTARS and PARTOLSTARS** (16)  
>Berzerk class: Sandstorm (1050), Tauron (1020), Echelon (900), Guardian (910), Glacier (1000), Tigon (1000)<br>Vanguard class: Arakiel (600)  
>Dagger class: Dagger (350), Hunter (350), Crossbow (350), Percy (350) Gimble (350), Artemis (350),<br>Avenger (350), Baldr (350), Ceros (350)

**MOBILE DOCKS AND SHIPYARDS**  
>Hesphaestus class: Hesphaestus (3000), Forge (3015), Starbridge (3400)<br>Cradle class: Cradle 1 (2500), Cradle 2 (2500), Cradle 3 (2500)  
>Unity class: Unity (12540), Eternity (12000)<br>Olympia class: Olympia (7000)  
>Hera class: Hera (3000)<p>

**ELINT SHIPS** (5)  
>Searcher class: Everest (600), Star Chaser (600), Wisdom (700), Night Shadow (640), Vision (900)<p>

**Civilian Section**

**27 Mining ships**: Calcutta (450), Tartans (500), Echo (400), Stride (400), Wind Fury ( 450), Black Elk (500), Mining Dreamer (490), Collar (400), Erbil (440), Tauron Miner 4 (500), Tauron Miner 7(400), Carol (440), Dark Miner (440), Falk (400), Caprican Miner (540), Miner 7 (400), Miner 8 (400), Miner 15 (450), Miner 18 (400), Miner 20 (400), Howard (450), Blacken (340), Cotani (300), Sandler (350), Erin (330), Valiant (360), Miner Heaven (300)

**12 Refinery ships**: Taren (600), Tylium Maker (509), Tylium Maker 8 (450), Batista (550), Saladin (800), Aventis (600), Fusilier (550)...

**5 Medical Transports**: Miracle (980), Hiding Star (850), Wallace (900), Mercurial (850), Demonical (800)

**3 Medical Ships**: Mercy (900), Forgiveness (890), Brightstar(990)

**1 Henchantories colony ship**: 60,000

**6 Colossus heavy military transport ships**: 60,000

**34 Colonial Heavies transports (Different versions):** 70,000  
><strong>7 Mobile shipyards<strong>: 60,000

**250 Freighters**: 450,000

**35 Cold Storage ships**: 12,000

**154 Luxury Liners:** 300,000

**10 Prison Ships**: 20,000 (3,500 prisoners)

**46 Agricultural Ships**: 130,900

**30 Research Ships**: 60,000

**9 Recycling ships**: 1,000

**95 Heavy Cargo ships**: 205,000

**42 Standard Passenger Lines**: 47,000

**12 Supply ships**: 30,000

**56 Colonial Mover transports**: 120,000

**4 former training ships**: 40,000

**15 Flattops**: 30,000

**80 large civilian transports: **400,000

**82 Civilian transports**: 156,000

**55 Cloud type luxury liners**: 130,000

**14 Tanker ships**: 7,000

In total there are over 2,650,000 survivors and growing...


	11. 1x11 Plans In Motion

**Plans in Motion**

**Olympia Station Meeting Room**

**Five days after Operation Firestorm**

There were dozens and dozens of officers sitting and waiting for the important meeting to start in the Olympia station meeting room. The commanding and executive officers from all the military ships were participating in this meeting. The only civilian present was Jason Campus from the Quorum of Twelve.

Admiral Stryker entered the room followed by Admirals Thorn and Sounders. After they sat in their places, Admiral Stryker started speaking, "ladies and gentlemen, as you all know by now, the Cylons destroyed Caprica: whether it was by mistake, or on purpose we don't know. They are aware of our military strength in ships, but not of our plans. Our losses during the evacuation of our people from Aerelon and Caprica were thankfully minimal with the loss of one Gunstar. We saved over a million people, including a large amount of colonial fleet personnel, and we recovered several military assets; including two battlestars, various support ships, and the defense grids from Caprica and Aerelon."

Admiral Stryker stood and started walking around, "now, the question is what do we do now? What is the next course of action? The answer to that question is this; we will proceed as planned to Avalon. We must move our main civilian fleet out of here to safety. After many hours of discussion and planning; Admiral Thorn, Admiral Sounders, and I came up with this. Twelve of our Battlestars and both of our Warstars will stay behind to do one last attack in colonial space on the Cylons. We will attack the Cylon forces at Picon, which will strike into the heart of the remaining Cylon forces in colonial space. If we succeed; we will destroy their secondary resurrection hub and their command basestar, hopefully this will cripple the Cylon forces in the colonies for some time to come and maybe even keep them from sending a large force to try and follow us to Avalon. The rest of our military units will proceed together with the civilians, shipyards, and our other assets to Avalon.

"Twelve of our Main line Battlestars and our only two Warstars? Are you mad Admiral?" Delegate Campus asked angrily sputtering in shock at what he was hearing.

"Yes, Delegate Campus, I am. I also forgot to mention that we will take all three of the Cradle mobile docks, one of the Hephaestus docks, the re-captured troop transports, and the Eleventh Marine Expeditionary Division as well," Admiral Stryker said.

The face of Delegate Campus lost all of its color after hearing that. It was quite obvious that Delegate Campus was furious.

"The quorum will not allow this Admiral!" Delegate Campus said loudly.

"Delegate Campus, I do not have time to argue with you or the other delegates. You are here only because I allow it, and you will not interfere with a military decision," Admiral Stryker said calmly and unblinkingly.

"No, but if military decisions put the civilians into danger, then yes!" Delegate Campus said.

"I assure you delegate, you have more than enough military ships to be protected; hundreds and hundreds of vipers and raptors. There's Unity and Eternity, the strongest and largest units ever built by the Colonial Navy which are fully armed, and besides Admiral Sounders will lead all of you back to Avalon safely. Once we are done with the attack on the Cylons, we will rejoin the civilian fleet," Admiral Stryker said.

"And what if the Cylons attack the main fleet, and the military assets assigned to protect the fleet are not enough?" Delegate Campus asked.

"They will be enough. This mission is very dangerous; we saw that they had over fifty baseships in one fleet, plus two or three command versions and that big one, but we planned this operation very well Delegate Campus. Add that to the fact that our attack will draw all available Cylons forces to us and away from you," Admiral Stryker said, and then turned to address all those in the room.

"We know that the entire Picon defense grid survived the attack, since the Cylons shut it down with the CNP virus. This fact also gives us a surprise for the Cylons that they will not be expecting. The Cylons do not believe that we could possibly reactivate the defense grid, since there is no way that we can get near the mainframe on Picon; not that it matters since Picon control was nuked during the attack. However, with the help we have received from our Cylon agents, we can now use the back door the Cylons used on the colonial fleet in order to hack the stations and place them back under our control. With the program they have helped us develop, we can bring them back online in auto mode; thus eliminating the need to crew them. Remember that these stations were constructed to be used in automatic, or under manual control when they had a crew on board. So when the stations reactivate the IFF software, they will lock onto the Cylon ships and attack. With the entire grid activated we can decimate the Cylon fleet. Now our latest recon identified that there are 22 modern Basestars, 1 Command Basestar, 10 Patrolstars, and the Resurrection Hub. And of course there are a lot of raiders and heavy raiders patrolling the area," Admiral Stryker said, addressing the meeting room at large.

"If I may Admiral, there were also some other assets at Picon identified by raptor scouts," Admiral Thorn interrupted.

"Go ahead," Admiral Stryker said curiously, wondering what Admiral Thorn had found out.

"From our interceptions of Cylon communications over the last few days, thanks to our Cylon guests, we now know that the Cylons have moved all captured colonial assets to Picon to keep everything in one place and minimize their need to place basestars across the colonies to protect from raiding parties they expect from us," Admiral Thorn said.

The crowd of commanding and executive officers murmured loudly after hearing that, wondering just what assets the Cylons had in their possession.

"Our raptor scouts recently confirmed what the translated Cylon transmissions told us. We know there's a large amount of captured colonial assets that were moved to Picon; including several civilian ships, military support ships, all the wrecks from colonial fleet ships that were salvageable, the Libran shipyard, and Aureoles station which we left behind unfortunately. From the Cylon transmissions we've decoded, we also know that all the POWs from all the colonies, numbering approximately one million people, are now on Picon," Admiral Thorn said.

The entire room went silent at Admiral Thorn's description of the developments on Picon, a few people drew their breath sharply after hearing the number of POWs moved to Picon.

"So the Cylons have moved pretty much every captured colonial asset to Picon? Wouldn't that mean they would move all their basestars to Picon as well?" Admiral Stryker asked.

"Other Cylon transmissions we decoded mentioned the Cylons intention to move the defense platforms and stations from all the defense grids around the colonies to Picon. Given all the other captured colonial assets that were moved to Picon and a few that are still being moved now, it would seem that the Cylons have not managed to move the planetary defense stations as of yet and might not be able to do so for a few more days. Our raptors have confirmed that the Cylons have kept their current fleet deployments throughout the colonies, and we believe that this will continue until after the Cylons have moved the defense stations and satellites to Picon. There shouldn't be any additional baseships at Picon if we strike at Picon, quickly, within the next few days," Admiral Thorn said confidently.

"Very well. We will proceed with our current plan for the strike at Picon unless our scouts determine there are more baseships at Picon before our attack commences," Admiral Stryker said, then looked over the file in front of him, his notes, to get back to his previous line of thought before Admiral Thorn's interruption.

"Under normal conditions, 12 Battlestars and 2 Warstars would be more than enough to deal with twice that number of basestars, but since we do not know how fast they can redeploy reinforcements, this attack must be made with a degree of caution. The plan is to surgically strike from two different sides. We will be pushing them slowly and deliberately back against the defense platforms while allowing our Raptors to get closer to the defense platforms and turn them on. We can do that from our Battlestars, but there will be a good chance that the Cylons will jam us just as much as we will be jamming them. We have already used stealth raptors to infiltrate into five of the command platforms, and we have teams getting them online in secret. With those five repaired and reprogrammed, they can be ready at the same time we attack Picon. The fleet will hit the Cylons from the front, and the platforms will hit them from the rear.

A selected group of raptors will be deployed to disable the resurrection hub as soon as the battle starts. The ships that will participate in this mission are the Battlestars Atlantis, Polaris, Vanguard, Chimera, Theseus, Athena, Titan, Freedom, Minerva, Hades, Pleiades, Victorious, and the Warstars Argona and Daedalus. The rest of the Battlestars, Gunstars, and other warships will stay with the fleet, and the Battlestar Rycon will lead the civilian fleet to Avalon. Until Atlantis and the other Battlestars return; presuming that we survive. That is all for now, any questions?" Admiral Stryker asked.

"What are the chances that we can win this fight against the Cylons at Picon?" Commander Elkins asked nervously.

"As I said, under normal circumstances we would have at least 30 Gunstars that would provide us with superior anti-air and missile defense. But, since the civilian fleet is very large, it needs a lot of support ships to protect it. So the Gunstars are going to be left behind with the fleet. So to answer on your question Commander, I cannot guarantee that all of our ships will return. If we strike them as planned, we should have the upper hand and blow them to pieces fast, presuming we jam them right away and no reinforcements get to Picon in time. In a fight, a Battlestar is much stronger than any Cylon baseship. But their heavy raiders and raiders can be a pain in the ass if they are armed with nukes, and I bet that some of them will be. Once the attack starts; our ships will be moving in groups of five. Daedalus and Argona will lead the attack together with Theseus and Atlantis in a third group, with the intention of targeting the Command basestar and its surrounding escorts from the start of our attack. We will have several stealth raptors moving in and attacking the Cylon baseships with nukes as well. The majority of our fighter squadrons will be engaging Cylon raiders while the rest of the fighters, and raptors armed with interceptors, will stay near the Battlestars to provide suppression fire against missiles and raiders," Admiral Stryker said.

For another half an hour, the Admirals shared their plans and after all questions were answered, the meeting was finally over and the officers dispersed to return to their ships.

**On the way to Olympia's CIC**

"Well that wasn't so bad, with the usual exceptions from Delegate Campus," Admiral Thorn said rolling his eyes.

"I'm not surprised; he has the right to be concerned about this plan. If we fail and we lose our attack force, the civilian fleet will have a much smaller military fleet to defend itself. I know there are a lot of assets in still in the fleet, but he is still a civilian and has a right to be scared after what happened to the colonies," Admiral Stryker said.

"Are you planning to cancel the mission?" Admiral Thorn asked.

"No. No, we will proceed with the mission as planned. With the Warstars and all those Battlestars, we might even succeed in bringing the Cylons to their knees, in the short term at least, and this should buy us the time we need to set up the colonies defenses and start building a fleet of ships," Admiral Stryker said.

"Does my new report of the newest Cylon developments change our plans?" Admiral Thorn asked.

"I was surprised you waited to tell me this. Yes, I do believe this changes things. We will proceed with the current attack plan, but assuming we kick the Cylons away from Picon long enough; we will be able to retrieve some more people from the planet and even put some unexpected fleet assets to use. I certainly didn't think the Aureolos station would survive after we decided she wasn't worth saving, but we might be able to use it for bringing more survivors to Avalon if there's time, or otherwise we'll leave it to be fixed at Picon. There's the shipyard there now which will be difficult to move, but we could always leave it behind to benefit the group we leave behind at Picon. Unfortunately, the majority of the survivors and POWs must hold on as best as they can for now, and remain on the surface of Picon. Right now the fleet is overpopulated so if we want to save more people, we'll have to place some on the military ships, and even that may not be possible. We'll have a clearer idea of where we stand after the attack at Picon. Once the fleet reaches Avalon and unloads the survivors we've recovered on the surface, we can prepare a fleet that can come back and try to save more of the remaining survivors. The only thing I can do for those on the surface, if we have time, will be to send them all the weapons, food, and medicine that we can spare in order to give them a better chance to fight back until we return. I will need to talk to the General to see about leaving some marines to assist those on the surface of Picon," Admiral Stryker said.

"Yes, about that. We only came to our conclusions about the Cylons moving everything to Picon today, after spending the last few days decoding their latest transmissions with the help of our Cylon guests. Also, you are aware that more than half of those we leave behind would die before the fleet returns?" Admiral Thorn asked.

"I know and we cannot do a thing for them. We simply don't have room, and even if we made the room; basic human needs that each person needs like food, water, and hygiene, would not support them all. We have over 2.5 million people in the fleet, and it will be a miracle if all of them get to Avalon safely," Admiral Stryker said sadly.

"I understand, it's just that it is hard to leave them to die," Admiral Thorn said downcast.

"As I said, we can't do anything for them; we must concentrate on what is in front of us, and that is saving our people in the fleet by getting them to Avalon, as well as kicking some Cylon ass at Picon. We are giving the people on Picon their best chance with the marines we will leave behind, as well as weapons, food, medicine, and the damage we may be able to do to any Cylon bases on the planet. It will take the Cylons many months to just replace their losses and restart their attacks on Picon. If we time this right, we can return before they get too far," Admiral Stryker said.

Before Admiral Thorn could reply, a Lieutenant ran up to them from the corridor leading to C.I.C.

"What is it lieutenant?" Admiral Stryker asked.

"Sir, we received word from the station's brig that two of the Cylons are dead, actually they killed themselves," the Lieutenant said quickly.

"What? How is that possible?" Admiral Stryker asked angrily.

"Apparently sir, they awoke earlier than usual, so they did not get the sedatives in time, and they got a chance to kill themselves before we could stop them," the Lieutenant reported.

"My, gods… We must act now," Admiral Thorn said.

**A few minutes later both Admirals entered the Olympia's C.I.C.**

"Ensign, put me through fleet wide," Admiral Stryker said grabbing the communications microphone, "This is Admiral Stryker, to all units in fleet. Initiate Code Black, I repeat initiate Code Black."

"What is going on sir?" Commander Corgon asked.

"Two Cylons just killed themselves; meaning when they resurrect the Cylons will know our location, so prepare all ships to move to the evacuation exit of the nebula, and then have our fleet start jumping to the alpha escape coordinates," Admiral Stryker said.

"What about the rest of the Cylons?" Admiral Thorn asked.

"Dump them out an airlock, but do it fast! Only leave those alive who are actively working with us," Admiral Stryker said.

Code black was an order used in case the enemy was overrunning, or had compromised, the defending position of the fleet. It compelled a retreat of all surviving units, military and civilian, from the battle zone. Although their position had not been attacked yet, it was compromised. While the tunnel that led to open space is the only open way into the nebula, it is not the only way out. Admiral Stryker knew this was where the Cylons would attack directly, so as to destroy the fleeing ships. Evanesce Plato was the only cleared zone inside the nebula from where ships could jump in or jump out. Only Colonial Fleet Command knew of it, since the knowledge was intentionally never placed inside any of the defense data bases.

It didn't take long before ships of all sizes started moving toward the Evanesce Plato, surrounded by military units for protection. Hera station was attached to the Eternity, becoming part of it for the entire journey back to Avalon, and Olympia station was scheduled to go last together with Battlestars Atlantis and Theseus acting as the fleet's rear guard.

**Thirty minutes later **

More than half of the ships had already jumped to the Alpha coordinates, and the rest were following. All the perimeter defense stations were picked up and stored on Unity and Eternity, and only minefields in the tunnel were left behind. The Battlestar Valkyrie, the guard for the entrance to Red Horse Nebula, started slowly moving to the Plato while leaving behind sensor buoys at the very edge of the entrance to watch for the Cylons.

**ATLANTIS C.I.C.**

"Sir, 60% of the fleet has already jumped, and it will take at least 10 minutes for the rest of the fleet to jump. Olympia station is also now moving towards the Plato," Commander Haller reported.

"What about the shipyards?" Admiral Stryker asked.

"Both Unity and Eternity are moving toward the Plato; they will be in place to jump in the next 7 minutes. However, due to the large amount of ships being repaired, refitted, and stored, along with bringing along Hera station; Eternity is moving sigificantly slower, and both shipyards will need at least 10 more minutes to have their jump engines 100 percent," Commander Haller reported, working with the CIC officers to manage the fleet evactuation.

Unity and Eternity both had enormous jump engines, but it took almost five minutes to charge for a single jump. While Olympia needed at least 20 minutes to charge for the jump. All three Battlestars had already charged their FTL engines while on the way to Plato, so once they arrived there they could jump instantly.

"There is also an incoming message from the Valkyrie sir; they reported that 20 baseships just jumped in near the entrance of the nebula," the communications officer said.

"Hmm, already? We don't have much time. Tell everyone to boost their engines to maximum. I want Theseus, Valkyrie, Vanguard and Hades to form a defensive formation once they arrive at Plato. We will do the same, nothing gets through until the last ship jumps out, is that clear?" Admiral Stryker asked.

"Yes sir," the communications officer replied, relaying Admiral Stryker's orders.

"We know that radiation from this nebula is poisonous for Cylons, do you think they will attack?" Commander Haller asked.

"Hmm, I don't know. They could wait and blockade the entrance, or they could send raiders in to chase us out. It's most likely they'll send in their raiders first, so let's launch our vipers to say hello to them if they do. Have all other ships do the same. How we are proceeding in the evacuation?" Admiral Stryker asked.

"Well, the majority of the fleet will be out in the next ten minutes, but Olympia will need a little longer," the communications officer reported.

"Sir, our sensor buoys in the tunnel are detecting a large number of raiders entering the nebula sir!" the dradis officer reported.

"Blast, Commander Haller, what military ship besides the defensive formations are still here?" Admiral Stryker asked.

"There's the Assaultstar Forseti and two Titan class Gunstars, but they will jump in a few minutes," Commander Haller replied.

"Hold them. Tell them to connect with Olympia, and tell the Valkyrie to do the same. We will use their engines to boost Olympia into being able to jump sooner," Admiral Stryker said.

"Yes sir, relaying the orders now," the communications officer said.

The Assaultstar Forseti and the two Gunstars started moving toward the station, joined by Battlestar Valkyrie. It took almost ten minutes for them to reach the station and connect to her. In the meantime, the enemy raiders were already fighting their way down the tunnel toward the place where the colonial ships had been for the last few months. After a short scan, they picked up the colonial ships near the Plato, and started moving rapidly with orders to destroy everything in their path.

But they didn't get far; they were engaged from both sides by vipers that were deployed there to attack them from the flanks once the Cylon fighters passed. A major dog fight started. Sensor buoys at the entrance again sent a warning signal that more raiders were coming through the tunnel, and this time baseships as well.

**Baseship 114**

"So we have found where they have been hiding," one of the number fours said.

"Yes, but it looks like they are escaping. If we only had known there was a zone in the nebula for their ships to jump out, we would have had them," a number six replied, "Jack won't be happy when we tell him the colonials escaped."

"They won't escape," a number three said confidently.

"It appears you're wrong; they are escaping. They have left several Battlestars to confront us and give time for their remaining ships to escape. The raiders won't be able do much, and our baseship won't get there in time. Also, did I forget to mention that this nebula is deadly to us, so we can't stay long," a number two Leoben said, rolling his eyes.

"At least we will try and destroy some of those Battlestars," a number four said persistently.

**Atlantis C.I.C.**

"Sir, Olympia is closing on the Plato; they will jump in several minutes, and all other ships are gone, including the shipyards," Commander Haller reported.

"Good, signal to the rest of the ships; we are falling back to Plato," Admiral Stryker said.

Atlantis and her escorts started turning towards the Olympia, which had just reached her destination and in blink of the eye jumped away. Only the defensive forces were left behind, and now it was a battle to escape and reach the safe spot to jump away from the nebula. Vipers were still engaged in deadly dog fights with the raiders, but were also covering the fleeing Battlestars, until finally Admiral Stryker gave the order for all vipers to return to their ships and make combat landings.

"Sir, we are approaching the Plato; commencing jump countdown, T-minus 1 minute," Commander Haller said.

"Good, Commander, please inform missile bay two to launch our little surprise for the Cylons," Admiral Stryker said.

"Surprise?" Commander Heller asked.

"Yes, a little gift for the Cylons, a 25Mt nuke," Admiral Stryker said with a vicious smile.

Commander Haller realized what Admiral Stryker was doing; all around them was the deadly and explosive gas of the nebula, and once they trigger the bomb to explode all the surrounding gas would ignite with deadly consequences. It would destroy all the raiders, and maybe even a baseship or two. Commoner Haller had known that this sector of the nebula was extremely dangerous, filled with unstable gases, and that it might destroy the ships that entered the nebula if they were not vigilant, and it would detonate every mine in the nebula as well. Clever indeed.

**Baseship 114**

"We have 5 baseships in the nebula including us; we've passed their location where they've been for all this time. We're on course to the safe jump spot," a number three said.

"Good, what's the status of our raiders?" a number four asked.

"Almost half have been destroyed, but the others are pursuing the colonial forces. The raider's report that all the enemy vipers have landed on their Battlestars, meaning they are preparing to jump," the number three said.

"It appears we lost this one," a number six said.

"Jack will be very angry that we didn't stop the colonials; we didn't destroy a single ship. How the hell did they know that we were coming?" a number one said.

"In my opinion, as soon as they realized that two of our brothers killed themselves, Admiral Stryker ordered the retreat. If we hadn't waited for additional ships, we might have been able to intercept them before they escaped," a number two said.

"At least three additional baseships have entered the nebula, the rest are trying to encircle the nebula," a number five said.

"Pointless, they are not going out of this nebula, they're already jumping away," a number four said angrily.

**Atlantis C.I.C.**

"15 seconds to jump," Commander Haller said.

"Alright, give the order Commander," Admiral Stryker said.

"Yes sir," Commander Haller said.

A few seconds later, a specially designed Viper was launched from one of the launch tubes, and headed directly into the nearest gas cloud.

"Jump in 5, 4, 3, 2, 1, now," Commander Haller said.

All colonial ships disappeared in bright flash. The special viper continued on its way; as soon as it came near a Cylon Basestar, it exploded. A large nuclear explosion engulfed the Basestar and ignited the gas cloud with a fiery explosion that increased the blast of the nuclear explosion. Raiders were engulfed instantly as the chain reaction started all the way back to the pursuing baseships, and before they could even react all of them were destroyed in a fiery blaze. Half of the sector was in flames, and the mines that were left by the colonials also self-destructed taking out at least another two baseships; leaving only one heavily damaged basestar able to escape.

**Command Baseship - In Orbit Of Picon**

"What the hell happened there?" Jack Cavil asked, walking furiously all around the CIC.

"The colonials escaped. We didn't believe they could escape so fast with so many ships and they tricked us, again!" Jeremy Simon said.

"Really, and they blew up ten baseships using a god damn nuke and the gases of the nebula, not to mention the mines," Jack Cavil said. Jack was furious over this disaster, he had hoped to at least destroy half of them, and then slowly continue to kill the remaining colonials until the survivors lead him to that mysterious colony, but now, he needed a new plan.

"From what our brothers said after they resurrected, the colonials kept them sedated all the time after they realized who they were. They also said that Kathy, Leoben, and one more six supplied the colonials with a lot of information; about our ship capabilities, numbers, and god knows what else," Jeremy Simon said.

"Wonderful, when John returns and finds Caprica destroyed, 2.5 mil survivors, and two dozen Battlestars along lots of support ships, he will kill us all," Jack Cavil said.

"I think this is your mistake not ours," one of the sixes said.

"Really sister, well he won't be pleased when he returns. As I said, he will kill us all; no matter who made the mistake, or who didn't. We need to take this problem and fix it before it gets out of control," Jack Cavil said.

"They're probably fleeing Colonial space and heading to their secret colony. That would be the logical course of action, with all those civilians Stryker rescued," one of the number twos said.

"Spare me your logic please. I want a scout sent out in all possible directions, and all around the Cyrannus system. I want them found. I think we cannot allow them to live any longer, we will swarm them in one attack attack and kill them all," Jack Cavil said.

"What about the colony, if we kill them all who will give us coordinates to its location?" a number five Doral asked.

"Well we can leave a few survivors of course. But the majority of them must be destroyed and especially their military units and shipyards. This must come to an end fast before John returns. If he returns that is," Jack Cavil said with a trace of hope in his voice.

**Rally Point Alpha - Atlantis C.I.C.**

"Jump completed," Commander Haller said, after Atlantis finished the jump.

"Ships?" Admiral Stryker asked.

"All accounted sir," the dradis officer reported.

"Good, it appears we will start our attack on Picon earlier than planned," Admiral Stryker said.

"Sir?" Commander Haller asked.

"Well Commander, right now, we need to move our fleet as far from the Cyrannus system as possible. But we need a distraction, and our attack on Picon is perfect for this. They will concentrate on us instead of the civilian fleet. Right now they do not expect any attack as the Cylons believe that we have escaped to leave the colonies, and by now they must know that we have a colony somewhere. They do not know where, and that is a piece of luck. But we need to ensure that we destroy or damage as many of their baseships as possible," Admiral Stryker said.

"And that Dreadstar? What should we do about her?" Commander Haller asked.

"Right now, nothing. Patience Commander, we will deal with her one day soon. We need to concentrate on our mission now. Get a message to Admirals Thorn and Sounders to meet me in the Atlantis' conference room in 30 minutes," Admiral Stryker said.

"Right away sir," Commander Haller replied.

"And by the way, how many fighters did we lose during the fight in nebula?" Admiral Stryker asked.

"Twelve in total, no survivors," Commander Haller said sadly.

After hearing this, the Admiral turned and left C.I.C. More deaths on his watch, but he knew it could happen and there will be even more in the next battle. Is it a good idea to attack the Cylons right now? Should he be sending his ships into a battle that could lead to the possible destruction of his main Battlestars and the death of his crews? Maybe not, but he must give the civilian fleet more time and demoralize the Cylons. Admiral Stryker thinks about this all the way to his ready room. One thing he knew for sure is that even if they survive and get to Avalon, one day they will return in numbers and eliminate all Cylons they find. Stryker was not a man full of revenge, at least not before the attack. Now, when human race was facing extinction, he would do anything to protect the fleet and its survivors. It's his way and his decisions, and those decisions kept this fleet in one piece.

**A half an hour later...**

**Atlantis Conference Room**

Only Admirals were inside the room, discussing and planning the fleet's next move.

"I cannot agree, you urge this, but we need more time to prepare and all of the ships need to be ready," Admiral Thorn said.

"We are as ready as we can be, we cannot delay this for much longer," Admiral Stryker replied.

"And what if they get more ships there? You will be overrun," Admiral Sounders said.

"Overrun but not outgunned. Kelly, your job is to get our people out of here; we cannot stay here. Sooner or later, the Cylons will look around and find us. This fleet is not so small that it can hide. And no, you agreed to lead the civilian fleet back to Avalon, so I do not want you to go with us. Somebody needs to lead the fleet away to safety," Admiral Stryker said.

"At least take a few more ships with you," Admiral Sounders pleaded.

"Absolutely not. We are already taking 12 Battlestars and both Warstars, as well as the eleventh marine division. We cannot take any more ships; already Delegate Campus is doing all he can to stall or stop our mission. In his eyes, and the eyes of the quorum, there's no point in attacking the Cylons at Picon. But it is simply the thing that needs to be done. And I will not argue about it," Admiral Stryker said determinedly.

"When do you plan to start the mission?" Admiral Thorn asked.

"Five days I think, I would like to go in three, but five days is necessary to complete preparations. I have already ordered additional viper squadrons on each participating Battlestars. We will double the number of viper squadrons in our attack fleet, and this should prevent the Cylons from overrunning us with their raiders," Admiral Stryker said.

"Hmm that will help, but it will make our flight deck a little chaotic if we need to retreat in a hurry," Admiral Thorn said.

"Maybe, but let's stay positive on this. As we planned; two fleets attacking from two sides, and once we attack we will start jamming from all ships. I have been informed that our stealth raptors have made it to the defense platforms unnoticed. The engineering teams have already started fixing the platforms and when we arrive, we will send the signal for them to turn them on. And the attack might be even easier than we hoped for," Admiral Stryker said.

"How so?" Admiral Sounders asked.

"The resurrection hub is located near two of the platforms, so when they come online during the attack they can disable and destroy the hub. Unfortunately half of the Cylon fleet is outside of the platform's firing range. So we will need to push them back into range of the platforms. The latest count on the Cylons places their ships at 24 baseships, 1 heavy baseship, and 10 Patrolstars. We must destroy these ships soon," Admiral Stryker said.

"What about the surface?" Admiral Thorn asked.

"Nothing, we can do about the surface unless we are fast and the Cylons are destroyed quickly. The original plan was that once we dealt with the guarding fleet; if we were be able to, we would to land on Picon and see if we could help any of the defenders and possibly take as many survivors as we can, but due to pressure from the quorum I may have to cancel that part of the plan," Admiral Stryker said.

"Why?" Admiral Thorn asked.

"Because right now we do not have room for those survivors. We already have people living in small and not too comfortable spaces, and I cannot force them to give more space for any newcomers. If we get the time we might be able to land the 11th Marine Division and use the space they free up to pick up some survivors," Admiral Stryker said.

**Gemenon's Sky Freighter**

In a dark corridor near the engines, two men stood in the shadows.

"So we cannot do anything to stop Stryker from continuing with this mission?" Delegate Jenkins asked.

"I'm afraid we cannot, the rest of the quorum is divided, but a majority of them agreed with every decision that Stryker has made so far and are not willing to oppose him," Delegate Campus replied.

"He is after all a capable man; so far he has led the fleet very well and under less than ideal situations," Delegate Jenkins said.

"Maybe, but he is risking the entire fleet with his military plans. Is this attack on Picon really necessary?" Delegate Campus asked.

"And what would you propose Jason, Mutiny? It would not be wise if we as members of the quorum were known to be having secret meetings and planning mutiny, at least not before we get a lot more supporters with our point of view," Delegate Jenkins said.

"I guess you're right. We will need to keep a low profile for now and wait for him to mess up. If the military starts to endanger us more we will act, but in the mean time we will need to find as many supporters as we can that do not agreed with military decisions," Delegate Campus said.

"Will do, but be careful. I would not be surprised if Stryker assigned somebody to follow you. After all, you are a pain in the ass for him; constantly arguing against his plans and his decisions, which could lead you to a messy end. So be careful with what you are doing," Delegate Jenkins said.

After they finished their conversation, the two men split up and each went on their own way. They were unaware that they were observed by someone deep in the darkness of the corridor.

**3 Days Later**

**Cylon Command Ship In Orbit Of Picon**

"Nothing," Jeremy Simon said while entering the main command room, "There has been no sign of any colonial activities for now."

"Hmm, they must have retreated and started their way to their secret colony by now," a number two said.

"Probably, but something tells me that they are still here or at least somewhere nearby. I think Admiral Stryker is not somebody who just retreats at the first sign of trouble. No, he is planning something," Jack Cavil said.

"His fleet's hiding place has been found, and he was forced to retreat. Don't you think that with all those civilian ships he has that he has to do his best to avoid us? To go as far as he can from us?" one of the sixes asked.

"Yes, I would expect that from any other colonial officer, but not from this man. I read his file, and it was lucky we saved some parts of the colonial defense mainframe. He was not a man that quits so fast, and remember that he was one of the youngest Commanders in the Colonial Fleet prior to the attack, and now he's an Admiral. He also beat Cain. So if he has the support of so many other officers, he has to be up to something," Jack Cavil said.

"Or he is simply scared by the power of our Dreadstar, and after losing his last place where they hid he was forced to withdraw from this system," Six said.

"If that is the case, we are all in trouble," Jack Cavil said.

"Your brother told you not to keep those disabled ships. Not to wait so long, but you did anyway. And look what's happened. We lost a lot of ships, but the colonials have over 20 Battlestars, between 60 to 70 support ships, and over 600 civilian ships with possibly over two million survivors. They even have a station and maybe even more that we do not know about since so much of their fleet had already jumped before the raiders could get close enough to scan them. All that you said was that there is no way they could have. They are more than ready to attack us despite the Dreadstar. And with Gary's incompetence that lead to the destruction of Caprica, the humans are in even more of a rage and looking for pay back," a number two said.

"If they are in a rage, these primitive barbarians as we think of them, then why the hell would they not attack us? Why would they not openly attack our ships? Instead they were hiding in a nebula. Tell me why Leoben, why?" Jack Cavil replied.

"Maybe they were preparing for something, a possible counter-attack. Maybe they're planning where to hit us," a number two said.

"And maybe they weren't. With so many ships, they need every military ship to protect their civilians. I doubt they would risk sending ships to attack us with the possibility they could lose them," number six said.

"Why not, they have a shipyard station, and they have more than enough people to crew new ships they could build. And they rescued over 30,000 of military personnel in that last raid on Caprica," one of the eights said.

"Cut the crap all of you!" Jack Cavil said banging his fist down on the operations table, "We will find them, but if we don't find them in a week, we will send ships in all directions and into the all sectors that surround this system."

"You are mad, we don't have that many ships!" Doral protested.

"I am not interested in excuses. I messed this up, but we will all fix it," Jack Cavil said.

"Finally, we agreed on something," number six said, "but don't count on me, you started this and you can fix it."

"By now we already have two traitor sixes, so do not force me to box your entire line," Jack Cavil said.

**1 day before attack on Picon**

**Atlantis C.I.C.**

"Communications, get me the Rycon," Admiral Stryker ordered.

"Rycon on the line," the communications officer replied.

"I'm transferring fleet control to you Kelly, lead our people to Avalon. I will catch up with you as soon as we finish with the attack on Picon," Admiral Stryker said.

"I will Admiral. Good luck and good hunting," Admiral Sounders said.

Several minutes later, twelve Battlestars, two Warstars, and the rest of the ships for the mission at Picon broke from the main fleet's formation and jumped away.


	12. 1x12 Strike At Picon

**Strike at Picon**

The Colonial fleet jumped near the moon of Am-Saar in the vicinity of Picon. The mobile docks, troop transports, and half of the 11th Marine Division jumped to their rendezvous coordinates. The other half of the 11th joined the attack fleet, and the fleet was divided into three smaller battle groups for the upcoming assault at Picon. The first two groups each held five Battlestars, while the third group was made up of the Battlestars Atlantis and Theseus, and the Warstars Argona and Daedalus.

Ready flights of Raptors armed with nuclear missiles were already gathered near the fleet in preparation for the attack. Stealth raptors were to disable the FTL drives of the resurrection hub, thus preventing the hub from escaping the coming battle and also locking her in place for a team of marines to board the ship. A group of regular raptors armed with nuclear missiles were prepped to attack specified baseships as soon as they jumped to Picon with the fleet. All other raptors would provide anti-fighter and ordinance support in conjunction with the fleet's vipers. Admiral Stryker's plan was to hit the Cylons hard and with a degree of extreme prejudice. With all the preparations complete, it was finally time for the first major battle with the Cylons since the fall of the colonies.

**Atlantis C.I.C.**

"Sir, all ships are reporting they're ready and standing by for your orders," Commander Haller said.

"Good, instruct all ships that as soon as their jump is complete they are to start pushing the Cylons as fast and hard as they can without endangering their ships. We know the weakest area of Cylon Baseships is their central axis so that will be the target of the gunners. Tell them that I want every shot fired from our ships to hit the enemy, and even though this battle must be fast I'm looking for all the damage we can do. With this in mind I'm authorizing the use of nuclear weapons, at the Commanders best judgment," Admiral Stryker said.

"Also all fighters, except those that will be staying with the anti-fighter armed raptors are free to engage the enemy raiders, and whatever they do, they need to keep raiders off our backs for as long as possible."

"Major Morales is already instructing our own squadrons of their assignments sir," Colonel Slater said, "the 11th Marine division is also standing by; they are ready to descend to the planet once we deal with the Cylons in space."

"Understood, as soon as we start the attack on the Baseships; they are to jump directly above Picon's northern pole and start making their way to the survivors. I want them to destroy any Cylon in their path and they are to use their vipers and bombers for their attack and defense," Admiral Stryker said.

"Sir, the General assures me that 6000 of his best marines will be deployed and stay to protect the planet until we can come back for them. They will be taking extra weapons, ammo, food, and medicine with them, as well as their tanks and anti-air defense units," Colonel Slater said.

"Are we picking up any of the survivors sir?" Commander Haller asked.

"Yes, as many as we can take off the planet during the time that we have, and that is the best we can do at this time," Admiral Stryker said.

"Sir, all fighter and raptor squadrons are ready. Raptor squadron "Ghost Riders" are ready to be deployed," Colonel Slater said.

"Excellent, what about our teams on the defense platforms; did they manage to get all of them back online?" Admiral Stryker asked.

"Yes sir, three of the targeted five are ready, and they said they will be able to get the remaining two ready by the appointed time of our attack," Colonel Slater replied.

"That's good, and they have 30 minutes remaining. So let us hope they are successful. What about the rest of the grid?" Admiral Stryker asked.

"They said that they think they might be able to get it all online, but it will take them at least an hour or so for the entire defense grid to be online and ready to fire on the Cylon fleet. Sir, are we going to delay for thirty extra minutes?" Colonel Slater asked.

"Instruct them to concentrate only on the platforms near the Cylons. Not the entire grid. That might give them the time they need to get them online and ready. If they can get those platforms online, then I will consider giving them more time for the rest," Admiral Stryker said.

"Yes sir," Colonel Slater said.

**Rycon C.I.C. - On route to Avalon**

Admiral Sounders stood in the middle of C.I.C. deep in thought; she knew that a victory against the Cylons over Picon was needed. It would distract them from searching for the refuge fleet at least for a short time. But how many of the warships participating in the battle would return? And in case they didn't return, she had to act on the orders that Admiral Stryker left behind. So no stopping until they reached Avalon, and hopefully safety.

"Any contact from the Atlantis Lieutenant?" Admiral Sounders asked.

"No Ma'am, nothing yet Admiral," the communications officer said.

"How long until they attack the Cylons at Picon?" Admiral Sounders asked.

"A little under 20 minutes Ma'am," the communications officer said.

**Command Baseship – In Orbit Of Picon**

"Still nothing! How the hell does a fleet of that size just disappear? What about our contacts in that fleet?" Jack Cavil asked.

"We don't know, they have not reported in since the attack; we assume that they were all killed," one of the Sixes said.

"Really, and if they were killed, would they not have resurrected by now? We need more ships out there looking for them then," Jack Cavil said.

"Cavil, the fleet is already stretched thin; with 30 of our baseships guarding the mobile shipyards and the Dreadstar and its fleet are already searching. If we could deploy some of our own ships from here it might help?" Jeremy Simon said.

"Usually I would say no, but since the colonials have their tails between their legs running, I support the deployment of some ships. Send two Baseships and all the Patrolstars with them and hope that this will be enough!" Jack Cavil said, unaware of the threat coming upon him and the rest of his fleet.

"If we deploy the entire fleet except the command ship and two Basestars, that would help even more," a number two said.

"Not a chance. I will not risk it. The colonials might be running, but we do not know where exactly they are. And we still have not made contact with Janice's battle group," Jack Cavil said.

"Her last message was that they found a single colonial Battlestar from the Prometheus battle group, the Eternal, but it got away. I believe they are continuing to pursue it," the number two replied.

"Nevertheless, the fleet stays here. And you Keith will take those two basestars and all the Patrolstars and go find the colonials," Jack Cavil said.

**Baseship 099 - Unkown Region - last known coordinates of Prometheus battle group**

"And, where the hell did they go?" Janice asked.

"No idea, we have searched every nebula, and every asteroid belt for them. We have however lost a few raiders on patrol, by colonial vipers," a number Five model known as Terry Doral said.

"Great. The Battlestars Eternal, Prometheus and the Nova destroy three of our Baseships and our resurrection ship, and then they just disappear. Now they're hunting our raiders, instead of us hunting them. In every engagement we are losing more of our resources!" Janice said angrily.

"We still have 12 Baseships and 5 support ships, so we can deal with them," a number eight called Shannon said.

"If I may suggest; it might be better if we returned to the colonies and got more ships as well as a new resurrection ship. We can't keep taking losses like this; each baseship destroyed means our own are be killed, and not being resurrected anymore without a resurrection ship. How shall we replace those that have fallen? Our only option is to retreat and get reinforcements," a number two said.

"The HELL we will! No we continue as planned," Janice said furiously.

"But Janice, we will not survive if Prometheus attacks us. Those Nova class ships are nasty. They are designed to hold out against three of our Baseships at a time. There are two of them plus the Eternal and the Celestial, and not to mention an unknown number of support ships. It is not wise to continue," Terry Doral said.

"Point taken, but we shall still continue and that is my final decision," Janice said and exited the room.

"She will get us all killed," a number two said.

"Well at least if we die, we might get some of the colonials as well," Doral said.

**Atlantis C.I.C. - 5 minutes before attack**

"Sir, the scouts are reporting that all the Patrolstars and at least two Baseships have left Picon. I'm guessing the Cylons are trying to find our ships? Since they don't know where we are, I bet they are scouting all around the Cyrannus system hoping to find our trail," Commander Haller said.

"Probably, but nevertheless they will not find the fleet. The only thing they can find is the Tycho satellites," Admiral Stryker said.

"But can't those satellites lead them to Avalon and the fleet sir?" Colonel Slater asked.

"No, the entire hyper network was shut down. Also, the fleet will pick up all probes on their way to Avalon; there's no connection, and besides there are at least two dozen similar satellites around colonial space," Admiral Stryker replied, however thinking that even he was not sure about this. Tycho satellites were much larger than all others, and it could possibly give the Cylons a clue about where the colony is. Luckily, they do not know the coordinates.

"With our attack, we will keep them busy, and keep them guessing for a while," Admiral Stryker said.

"Is not the Dreadstar or their mobile shipyards a better target than the Picon fleet sir?" Commander Haller asked.

"Attacking the Dreadstar is not an option at this time; we saw its destructive power. There is no way to believe that a frontal assault on that monster, especially if it's surrounded by such a large supporting fleet, will have any effect. And we would lose our ships for next to nothing to show for it. And an attack on the mobile shipyards is also not possible, because if the information from our Cylon guests gave us is true, it's a mobile fortress. It is almost as large as their colony ship and is designed exactly to keep itself mobile and safe from a large attack force. Again, we would lose ships and we would not get the desired effect we are looking for. Picon is our only logical choose for now as it gives us the greatest chance to hurt the Cylons with the least chance of being destroyed ourselves," Admiral Stryker said.

"For now?" Commander Haller asked.

"Yes, when we develop new weapons to defeat that Dreadstar and the shipyard we will attack them. Right now we will concentrate on this battle, and survive it first," Admiral Stryker said.

Several minutes later all ships reported they were ready and awaiting orders.

"All ships are in position, their assault vectors confirmed, we are as ready as we can be," the communications officer reported.

"Good, signal the fleet; we are moving in," Admiral Stryker said and crossed his hands over his chest, looking intently at the tactical display.

"This will be a bloody fight, and it will be crucial to immediately jam the Cylon forces and prevent any ship from escaping. We must prevent all of them from leaving; especially the raiders and heavy raiders, or it will be a no go on the second part of the mission. We will do as much damage as we can in as short an amount of time as possible; with the main goal of the attack on Picon being the destruction of the Command Baseship and the resurrection hub. Start the countdown Colonel," Admiral Stryker said.

"5, 4, 3, 2, 1 jumping," Colonel Slater said.

All ships disappeared and then reappeared in a high orbit of Picon. Admiral Stryker deployed his ships so they could do maximum damage to the Cylons. The moment the ships appeared in orbit they opened fire on the very surprised Cylon Baseships; all viper and raptors squadrons were launched as one and the fight began.

The Atlantis jumped directly in front of two Baseships and started pounding them both with ammunition. The first Baseship exploded after receiving a direct salvo from the Atlantis' main bow cannons, and a second followed when hit by several nukes from the other colonial Battlestars. Battlstar Thesues used her laser cannons to heavily damage a baseship near the command basestar, and within moments the baseship was destroyed. Warstars Argona and Daedalus destroyed a baseship with heavy fire from their main cannons within moments after appearing in orbit of Picon, and then quickly turned to a second. Two baseships were destroyed by a nuclear strike from a raptor squadron, and two others were heavily damaged before the raptors jumped out. Other baseships were under heavy fire from the main cannons of the other Battlestars moments after their arrival. However, the shock of the colonial fleet's appearance did not last long and the Cylons quickly recovered and started returning fire. They sent waves after waves of raiders to confront the colonial vipers and Battlestars.

Almost at the same time; stealth raptors jumped in to the fight and engaged the command Basestar and the resurrection hub disabling the FTL engines on both ships with multiple tactical nukes and anti-ship missiles.

**Cylon Command Baseship**

"What the hell is happening?" Jack Cavil yelled, entering the main control room.

"We are under attack by multiple colonial Battlestars and Warstars," Jeremy Simon reported.

Jack barely made it to the middle of the room when the ship violently shook from missiles hitting the ship's FTL engines.

"Our engines are down; they sent stealth raptors to disable our jump capability," a number six said.

"Never mind the engines, engage the colonials! What is the status of the defensive fleet?" Jack Cavil asked.

"Six baseships have already been destroyed, two others are in critical condition and breaking apart, and several are reporting heavy damage but they are returning fire on the colonials," a number six replied.

"How many Battlestars?" Jack Cavil asked.

"There are twelve Battlestars and two Warstars," a number two said.

"So Admiral Stryker sent his best to engage us. I must admit that I didn't expect him to be capable of an attack on us here. Never mind, let's teach him a lesson that he will not forget," Jack Cavil said.

"The resurrection hub is sending a distress message; their engines are down, and they are being boarded by marines from the stealth raptors," Jeremy Simon said.

"Blast, send some raiders to protect them and get those two Baseships near the planet to move and protect t.." Jack Cavil started to say before being interrupted.

"Uh Jack, we have a slight problem," a number two interrupted.

"What now?" Jack Cavil asked.

"The Colonial defense grid just turned itself on, and from our scans it started targeting those two baseships and the resurrection hub," the number two said growing pale.

"Get those ships away from there now!" Jack Cavil yelled.

But it was too late. Five stations had already come online and started firing on both of the baseships; within moments both Baseships were destroyed as hundreds of missiles hit them. The Resurrection hub followed a few minutes later after the marines evacuated with the information and prisoners they came to get.

"We are out of range of the defense grids, but its looks like the colonial fleet is trying to move us closer to the grid," a number two said.

"Not going to happen; tell all ships to move forward and engage the Battlestars," Jack Cavil said.

Jack Cavil was furious, he hadn't expected this. Admiral Stryker seemed to have a big set of balls to challenge him this way.

"Can we signal for reinforcements?" Jack Cavil asked.

"No, they are jamming us. And even if we send a raider; it will take at least an hour before we can get any reinforcements. We're alone," a number eight replied.

"Well then, let's take as many of them with us as we can, shall we? Launch a full spread of nukes; including the 250Mts," Jack Cavil said.

The colonials had the upper hand from the start. The main cannons of the Battlestars, especially those from Atlantis, Theseus, and the Warstars, were quickly decimating the Cylon Baseships; however it was not completely without casualties. Many Battlestars had been hit by multiple nukes and standard missiles, but they continued attacking.

Theseus dispatched two attacking Baseships to oblivion with her bow laser cannons, as Baseships did not have a chance against that kind of firepower.

"Jack, that upgraded Nova class command Battlestar seems to have some kind of laser/particle weapons. It's tearing our ships apart!" a number two said.

"Can we get closer and hit her?" Jack Cavil asked.

"It's well protected and has the two warstars escorting her. We should destroy the others," a number six replied.

"There. There is our nemesis, Admiral Stryker," Jack Cavil said hatefully, showing an image of Atlantis slowly moving forward and firing on everything in her path, "move closer and concentrate our nukes on her, I want that ship destroyed!"

**Atlantis C.I.C.**

"Sir, we're getting an emergency message from the Battlestar Freedom. They've been hit by three nukes and their engines are going down. They've lost quite a few of their guns already from weapons fire; they won't survive for long," Commander Haller said.

"Send the Hades to protect her, and all available vipers in that area. I want her out of the battle," Admiral Stryker said, but a big flash on the screen caught Admiral Stryker's attention at that moment. The Battlestar Freedom exploded after being hit by multiple nukes launched from several raiders.

"No!" Admiral Stryker said quietly.

The Cylons started a counter attack on the attacking colonial forces. The raiders were heavily engaged with the colonial vipers and raptors, but every once in a while several raiders got in a strafing run past the Battlestars' defenses with anti-ship and nuclear missiles. The baseships started launching their full complement of missiles, and specifically nukes, directly at the attacking colonial fleet, in the hopes of evening the battle out to their favor. The colonials were already battered and damaged, but were still engaging and destroying Cylon Baseships. So far the odds were on the colonial's side as twelve baseships had been destroyed to only one colonial Battlestar lost. It was definitely a good casualty ratio in favor of the colonials. But human casualties on all the colonial ships were starting to grow already.

"Let's finish this; all ships forward, no stopping until the last Cylon ship is destroyed," Admiral Stryker said determinedly.

"Alright boys and girls, concentrate on raiders carrying nukes; it seems there's plenty of them. Delta and Gamma squadrons are to engage everything else," Major Kathy "Queen Hammer" Morales ordered.

All the viper squadrons from the Battlestars engaged the Cylon raiders and were outnumbered 4 to 1, but soon the odds were down to 2 to 1 thanks in part to the experienced pilots from the Battlestar Atlantis.

"Watch it, Jenkins you have two bogies on your tail!" Peter _Stormhawk_ Huges said.

"I can't shake him," Jenkins said in panic.

"Relax, just avoid him, I'm coming," Peter "Stormhawk" Huges said.

"I can't, they're all over me," Jenkins said.

Stormhawk moved his viper to top speed; managing to intercept and destroy both pursuing raiders and save his fellow pilot, but in only a second a raider out of control hit Jenkins and both fighters exploded. Stormhawk barely survived the blast.

"Son of… Alpha 8 is down, I repeat Alpha 8 is down," Stormhawk said.

"Find yourself a companion and continue engaging," Atlantis CAG Kathy Morales said. She herself was dueling against four enemy Cylon raiders; with her tactics and tricks she managed to destroy two, but the remaining two were starting to be a pain in the ass. Especially after she discovered they were Scar's squadron mates.

Scar was one of the Cylon raiders that participated in many fights against the colonials, and in many ways they had been blast by colonial vipers. But each time they resurrected; they learned new strategies and tactics to use against the colonials.

Right now major Kathy was in an unpleasant situation. After several minutes of chasing around, and avoiding fire, Kathy decided to take the fight to the raiders. At full speed, she cut her engines; allowing raiders to pass in front of her, and then, before she turned her engines on again, she fired on both of them destroying them in seconds.

"Scars my ass," Major Kathy said.

**Command Baseship**

"Send two heavy raiders out; we need help, no excuses. Even if it takes time; I want every Baseship in colonial space here, is that understood," Jack Cavil said.

Moments later two raiders exited the hangar bay and jumped away.

Battlestars Athena and Polaris move forward engaging Cylon baseships and blowing one of them apart.

**Athena C.I.C.**

"Sir, several nukes were fired from the command baseship and they are targeting us," Colonel Marks said.

"Move us into a defensive position, flak screen up, destroy those nukes!" Commander Thomas said.

Athena started shooting every defensive gun she had at those nukes, but a single nuke passed through unscathed.

"One nuke passing, it will hit us," the dradis officer reported.

"All hands brace for impact!" Commander Thomas said.

The nuke hit the center of the Battlestar. In moments the entire ship disappeared, and the explosion was so massive that it hit the nearby Battlestar Polaris as well.

After everything settled down, there was nothing left from Athena. Only debris remained, and the Commanders on all the colonial ships were in shock. Polaris received a lot of kinetic damage from the EMP of the nuke that, even with Battlestar anti-EMP protection, managed to disable the Battlestar for a few minutes.

**Atlantis C.I.C**

"What the hell just happened?" Commander Haller asked.

"I don't know; did the sensors pick up anything?" Admiral Stryker asked, looking at the sensor officer.

"Yes sir, a large amount of radiation and EMP. My guess is it came from a very high yield warhead, around 200-250Mt," the sensor officer said.

"My gods," Commander Haller said, "no wonder the Athena wasn't able to survive it."

"What is the status of the Polaris?" Admiral Stryker asked.

"She's in one piece, but due to the kinetic and EMP damage she received she is disabled. Commander Banner says it will take a few minutes to restore all power, and at least half an hour for the FTL engines," Colonel Slater said.

"Tell her to move her ship out of the fighting zone. All fighters and raptors in that zone protect her at all cost, and tell the Pleiades to move to a defensive position over Polaris as well," Admiral Stryker said.

"Yes sir," the communications officer said.

Atlantis, as well as the remaining ships, continued to press forward destroying the remaining baseships in a fury. Several baseships received nuclear hits, but still were in one piece more or less and continued the attack. The Command baseship was now in front of the Battlestar Atlantis.

Atlantis and Theseus started to charge the main baseship.

**Command Cylon Baseship**

"Our front line is open, Atlantis and Theseus are charging in at us," a frightened Simon said.

"Concentrate on the Atlantis," Jack Cavil said, holding himself to the console as the room shook from being hit from Atlantis' longer range bow cannons, "fire our nukes on Atlantis, and suppression fire on Theseus."

A dozen nuclear missiles launched from the Command Baseship, all going towards the Atlantis.

**Atlantis C.I.C.**

"Sir, the Cylons just launched a dozen missiles at us, all nuclear. Analysis shows that five of them are the same yield that destroyed Athena, 250Mt," Colonel Slater said.

"Frak, tell all fighters to engage those missiles. Restart the defense grid, and fire on them," Admiral Stryker ordered.

Vipers gave their best efforts to stop and destroy the missiles, but simultaneously they were engaged by raiders as well, who were sent to protect the missiles. Defensive fire and vipers destroyed all but one missile. One 250kt nuke passed through all the Atlantis' defenses moving straight at the left upper docking bay.

"One is passing the defenses and it will hit us," Colonel Slater said.

"Evacuate the left pod, emergency eject the tylium bunkers. Con, evade 121-1," Admiral Stryker ordered hurriedly.

The Atlantis started evading but it was massive and it was not going to move in time. The nuke hit the left docking bay, a few meters above the upper raptor bay. A massive explosion engulfed the entire ship, and threw the ship violently to the right side.

Admiral Stryker was pushed backwards from the shockwave and sent flying to the other side of C.I.C. where he landed hard on one of the consoles. The ship lost almost all power and started to drift.

On Theseus, Admiral Thorn was in shock as the entire crew watched the disappearance of the flagship in a ball of fire.

"Commander, order all power to engines and weapons move us into range; it's time to destroy that Command Baseship," Admiral Thorn said seething with rage.

"Sir, we're detecting Atlantis, it was not destroyed, but it is dead in space sir," a sensor officer said.

"Thank the gods, dispatch SAR raptors. Helm, continue our course; I want that Baseship down now," Admiral Thorn ordered.

**Command Baseship **

"Well she survived the first strike, but not this time," Jack Cavil said with a wide smile, assuming Atlantis destroyed from the 250Mt nuke.

"I wouldn't smile yet Jack," a Six said.

"What are you talking about?" Jack asked looking up at the Six.

"Atlantis is not destroyed, disabled yes, but not destroyed," Six said, brining up on the main screen the disabled form of the Battlestar Atlantis.

"That's not possible; a 250Mt nuke should have shredded the ship to pieces!" Jack Cavil said in disbelief.

"Obviously it's not in pieces, her armor is much stronger and resilient than you thought," the six said.

"Fire another volley, and destroy her!" Jack Cavil ordered.

"That's not possible. Look," Simon said.

Looking at the screen again, Cavil's expression went from anger to shock at seeing the massive appearance of Theseus firing some kind of lasers at his ship. The entire ship was shaken from the hits.

"Report?" Jack Cavil said after the ship stopped shaking from the first volley of weapon fire.

"Weapons are down, life support is going down, engines and thrusters as well, we're done for," Simon said.

"No, no, it can't b.." Jack Cavil said, without being able to finish his sentence. The room shook again and exploded after a second strike from the Theseus hits the main tylium bunkers blowing the entire Command Baseship apart.

The remaining three Baseships jumped away.

**Dreadstar C.I.C. Outside of colonial space...**

"Shall we not go and help Cavil and his forces on Picon?" one of the twos asked.

"Not this time," Gary Doral replied.

"Jack will kill you once he resurrects," a number six said warningly.

"Why? We never got the message. And the Dreadstar is having problems with its engines. Lie it is, but it will save us. I don't have any intention of risking this fleet for that idiot anymore," Doral said.

"If you say so," the six said dubiously.

**In orbit of Picon**

Admiral Thorn took command of the fleet, ordering rescue parties to the destroyed Battlestars. The Eleventh Marine division arrived and started descending towards the planet to the largest concentration of survivors. It was chaotic when survivors found out that only so many would be taken away, and that the rest would need to survive until colonial ships returned. Supplies and equipment were deployed as well as 6000 marines to ensure their protection. Two dozen engineers and builders were deployed as well to create two powerful Gauss cannons: the latest invention from colonial R&D. The cannons were similar to bow cannons of the strongest Battlestars with 1500mm shells and once launched, they fly with a 3rd the speed of light. It was strong enough to decimate a baseship with a single shot at the central axis. Since a majority of the survivors moved to the mountains like those on Caprica, it shouldn't be a problem to defend them. A number of Phoenix VTOL's and Raptors were also deployed.

All Cylon bases and outposts in the mountain areas were eliminated by the assault ships and colonial bombers. Some of them with human form Cylons tried to surrender, but they were killed on site.

The mobile docks arrived as well putting the most damaged ships in their bays. The Battlestar Atlantis was in the worst shape, with almost 890 members of its crew killed or critically hurt, including Colonel Slater. Admiral Stryker was in bad shape and was moved to the sickbay on Theseus. Commander Haller, who survived with some bruises and scratches, resumed command of Atlantis. Almost all of the remaining crew had some injuries ranging from bruises to broken limbs. The damage of the Atlantis was so extensive that it was moved first into one of the Cradle docks. Chief Williams would give a full report to Admiral Thorn some time later.

The captured colonial military and civilian ships, wrecks, and stations, were boarded and searched for centurions and tracking devices. The Cylons had apparently learned their lesson from the re-capture of colonial ships at Aerelon as the marines entering the ships found significant resistance of centurions aboard. Within thirty minutes all the ships were cleared by a heavy amount of marines from the eleventh marine division. The ships were then quickly searched for tracking devices and anything out of place.

9 battlecruisers, 7 heavy cruisers, 10 gunstars, 7 light cruisers, 3 destroyers, 5 firestars, 4 strikestars, and 5 escortstars in total were recaptured of the military ships in orbit of Picon, and were crewed from military POWs on Picon. There were 8 mining ships, 3 refinery ships, 3 medical transports, 2 medical ships, 10 freighters, 6 luxury liners, 4 agricultural ships, 1 recycling ship, 5 heavy cargo ships, 13 standard passenger liners, 3 supply ships, 3 civilian transports, 3 cloud type luxury liners, and 6 tanker ships in the recaptured fleet of civilian ships in orbit of Picon which were crewed by civilian volunteers from Picon who had experience as crew members, and from working, on such ships before. There were also the salvageable wrecks of military ships in orbit; 12 battlestars, 10 gunstars, 5 destroyers, 5 heavy cruisers, 5 battlecruisers, 5 light cruisers, and a dozen or so strikestars, firestars, and patrolstars all sustaining some degree of damage.

The eleventh marine division landed after eliminating the Cylon bases and took in 13150 people. The six troop transports, which had been given only a skeleton crew after being reclaimed at Caprica, took another 6000 people aboard. All the POW survivors in the POW camps were screened for Cylons, and all Cylons were killed on site. People were re-checked before being allowed to board the transport ships leaving Picon. A system was also put in place to recognize any other identified Cylon found around Picon.

The salvageable military ships, which had been heavily damaged in the original Cylon attack, were moved into the Hephaestus dock, the Libran shipyard, and Aureoles station. The Libran shipyard was prepped to be able to jump using the combined jump engines of a couple of the least damaged Battlestars in the fleet, whereas Aureolos station still had its own jump drives operable. Aureolos station was still half wrecked since she had last been seen shortly before Operation Firestorm, but still had her FTL drives and docking capabilities working.

In total the re-captured colonial ships, the Libran shipyard, the eleventh marine division, and troop transports were able to carry 200,000 POWs from Picon. Over one million are estimated to have been left behind in the POW camps, with an estimated several hundred thousand to a few million spread over the entire planet. Hundreds of thousands to millions remained on the other colonies in remote areas, underground, and wherever else the colonials could escape to away from the Cylons. No other POW camps currently remain on the colonies with the victory at Picon and liberation of the POWs there. The POW camps on Picon had been the sum total of all other POW camps across the colonies, excluding Aerelon and Caprica who had their POW camps emptied in Operation Firestorm, which had been moved there after Caprica's destruction.

**Theseus - Admiral Ready Room**

"Come in Commander, Chief," Admiral Thorn said.

Commander Haller and Chief Williams entered the room; after being directed to sit by Admiral Thorn they sat in chairs opposite the Admiral.

"We are breaking orbit in the next 10 minutes gentlemen, has the Atlantis been moved into a dock?" Admiral Thorn asked.

"Yes sir; she, Polaris, and an additional Battlestar were put in the cradle docks. All other ships are capable of jumping on their own. All the re-captured colonial assets in space have been crewed and are ready to go. The salvageable military ships have been put into the stations and Hephaestus mobile dock," Commander Haller reported.

"What about destroyed Battlestars, how many survivors are there?" Admiral Thorn asked.

"120 from Freedom, and 4 from Athena," Commander Haller said.

"Only four?" Admiral Thorn asked.

"Athena was already heavily damaged by previous hits, the high yield nuke just tore her apart and most of the ship was vaporized. Those who survived will die from the radiation. Those four survivors are in critical condition as well. Only Athena's fighter wing survived, and that would be only 26 vipers and 2 raptors from the entire complement. As well as 44 vipers and 5 raptors from Freedom," Commander Haller said.

"How much did we lose of our complete viper and raptor force?" Admiral Thorn asked.

"About 50% percent of the viper force and 30% of all raptors," Commander Haller replied solemnly.

"But if I may, even with the losses we received I must say that we deserve this victory, and I doubt we would have won if Admiral Stryker had not planned this attack out so well," Commander Haller said.

"Yes Commander, I must agree. In the end, we didn't even need to use the defense grid of Picon much. Except destroying two baseships and the hub, it merely forced the Cylons to stay in one place and made them sitting ducks. Two Battlestars were lost, but the enemy lost 17 of their Baseships plus a Command Basestar, and the Resurrection hub. Thanks to tactics created by Admiral Stryker we can be happy to have only two ships lost and not all of them," Admiral Thorn said.

"Still if I may sir, all ships have some kind of damage. Atlantis, Polaris, and Titan will need some time in the shipyards to be fully ready for service again, especially Atlantis," Chief Williams said.

"Ah yes, what is the status of the Atlantis right now?" Admiral Thorn asked.

"Well sir, all the primary energizers are disabled, the left pod upper section is useless, and it's a miracle that the entire pod didn't explode or come apart. So I would congratulate the boys and girls of Scorpia yards sir, they built her very well. The Raptor bay was destroyed, and there is a hole over 40 meters in diameter. The pod will need a complete reconstruction of the upper landing pod, and for safety maybe even the lower as well. The entire ship received a powerful EMP shock, and while the ship is designed to withstand an EMP shock of up to 150Mt, she was hit by a 250Mt. So a majority of all the electrical and electronic systems are fried and need to be replaced. Life support is operational but that is about all at this time. Right now the ship is being run by a skeleton crew. And it will take at least 4 months in a shipyard to get Atlantis back to 100 percent again," Chief Williams said.

"Commander, when can we expect Admiral Stryker to return to duty?" Admiral Thorn asked.

"Well, the Admiral was seriously wounded; his leg was broken in four places, he broken almost all his ribs, has a concussion, and is bleeding internally. He will be out of service for at least six months, or even a year. Thankfully he is not in critical condition any more, but he will need to take time to heal and make a full recovery," Commander Haller said.

"How is our ground mission going?" Admiral Thorn asked.

"Well sir, the marines are deployed and they have already moved into position around the settlements in the mountains. The eleventh marine division destroyed all the major Cylon outposts across the planet as well. Under Colonel Burns guidance we have removed 13,150 women and children that were taken onto the marine ships, and adding those numbers to the people we put onto the reclaimed ships and stations and we picked up a total of 200,000 people sir," Commander Haller said.

"Also, the entire defense grid is now under his personal control, if the Cylons get too close they will be destroyed and those two Gauss cannons are insurance in case the Cylons somehow destroy or get around the grid. If I may sir, we have more vipers and raptors than we need at the moment. Would it not be a good idea to leave some of them here with the 11th Marine Division to help with the defense of the planet until we can return?" Commander Haller asked.

"Hmmm, that is a very good point and….I think you are right. Let's ask for volunteers and grant the General 120 vipers and 40 raptors. I only want volunteers. We have more maintenance crews than we need right now as well, so make sure that they can maintain the vipers and raptors until we can return. Commander we only have twenty minutes to get this done before we are leaving," Admiral Thorn said.

**Twenty minutes later…**

"Sir all ships are ready, the damaged ships in the docks are secured, and we can leave anytime you want sir," Commander Haller said.

"Good, we are leaving immediately. Who knows when the Cylons will come back; it's weird that they haven't come already. We are leaving in five minutes so start the clock," Admiral Thorn said.

"Yes sir, I will return to the Atlantis," Commander Haller said.

"No, you will stay here. After all, Atlantis is currently not operational and I need your experience right here," Admiral Thorn said.

"Yes sir," Commander Haller said.

Five minutes later all colonial ships jumped away towards the Terminus sector, to catch up with the rest of the fleet on its way to Avalon.

At least for the moment the survivors on Picon were safe, and there were several smaller ships, mostly civilian, on the surface that Colonel Burns would use later to scout other colonies in search for survivors and then bring them to Picon.

**Two Days Later**

**Outside of colonial space - Dreadstar**

Gary Doral was enjoying the silence in his quarters, and looking over some of reports, when someone opened the doors and entered the room.

"I see you're enjoying yourself Gary," Jack Cavil said angrily.

"Jack, what a surprise? I see you resurrected, again!" Gary replied, surprised to see Jack since he had been hoping he would've failed to resurrect.

"Yes I have, and I have a question for you Gary, I sent two heavy raiders to get reinforcements. They never reported back, nor did they resurrect. What happened to them?" Jack Cavil asked.

"How should I know, no heavy raiders arrived to inform us of your request, I do not know what happened to them," Gary Doral said, lying smoothly.

"Really and why didn't you send a ship to Picon after getting news that Picon went silent?" Jack Cavil asked.

"We didn't even know that Picon was attacked, and the Dreadstar had a problem with the engines and some of the other systems. I sent a majority of the crew to fix it. If we had been aware of the attack I am sure I would have sent you some reinforcements," Gary Doral said.

"Hmm, I will be watching you Gary. I will be watching you closely, I promise you that," Jack Cavil said, and after saying that Jack left the room, leaving Gary shocked.

**Half an hour later - Main Command Room**

"An attack on Picon was something we didn't believe could happen," Jack Cavil said watching all the other Cylons in the room.

"It was a major blow to us. Admiral Stryker attacked us when we believed he would be retreating and he attacked the heart of our base of operation in the colonies. We assumed he wouldn't dare to attack Picon with 20 baseships there, but clearly that was not correct. The defense grid over Picon is operational and back in colonial hands. All the captured colonial ships, stations, and their salvageable military ships have been re-taken. From what little reports we got before our command bunker was destroyed, we know that they have a Marine Division on the ground to protect the civilians. Worst of all we lost the resurrection hub over Picon, and myself and the others killed in the colonial attack were lucky to be able to resurrect given the other resurrection hubs distance to the colonies in John's fleet. Some were not so lucky and failed to download completely. Our downloads are also a lot slower now considering the distance to the resurrection hub, which is why I and the others from Picon only recently resurrected," Jack Cavil said.

"And you didn't predict this attack?" a six asked seething with rage, glaring at Cavil as she held him personally responsible for this mess.

"We might have lost today, but we will destroy them sooner or later," Jack Cavil said.

"Really? We barely destroyed two of their Battlestars, critically damaged a third one, and they destroy 17 baseships, the resurrection hub and the main command Basestar. I would say it was a major fracking failure Jack!" the six said.

"Yes, it was our failure, but luckily there is some good news. We got one man into their fleet and from last news we received, they saved 13,150 survivors from Picon on their marine ships, and one of them is a number five who was changed surgically to look like another person. They won't find him as easily as they found the others, and he will lead us to their new colony. As of now, all colonial ships and other assets are to be destroyed on site here in the colonies. In particular, we will completely destroy the planetary defense stations and satellites around the colonies to make sure the colonials can never get their hands on the rest of them considering their use of Picon's defense grid. We will also no longer be depending on the colony. With a new class of ships that we are developing, we will rebuild our forces and continue our war with the humans," Jack Cavil said.

"Building new ships? What about hybrids?" a number three asked.

"No need for them in the new Baseships. The humans don't have hybrids, and yet they are much better than our hybrids. We will use the same hierarchic way as they use. And we will prevail this time. The new Adonis class baseships are much stronger, well armored and much better armed than our standard baseships. We will also upgrade our current ships to the new level as well in time," Jack Cavil said.

"One question, how do you plan to follow humans to their base, I mean their colony?" a six asked.

"Easy, the five that is in the fleet has a subsonic transmitter, which is a device that will allow us to track his location. One of our baseships and a patrolstar are right now following their military fleet. Assuming they're going back to their main refuge fleet. We will not engage them until they get to their colony and settle in. So once we find their location, we will plan the attack. And this time we will not rush the attack. We will rebuild our forces before we do a full scale attack," Jack Cavil said.

"I hope this plan of yours work, it seems very big even for you," a six said.

"It will work. And in the end, they won't stand a chance! Not this time," Jack Cavil said smiling.

**Baseship - Unknown area**

The Baseship was damaged so badly it was drifting and losing power.

"Fracking Prometheus," Janice said.

"They destroyed almost every other ship in our fleet," an eight said.

"How many surviving ships are left?" Janice asked.

"One, but it is in the same shape as we are in. I strongly recommended we return to colonies. We are not in a shape to fight the colonials anymore," the eight replied.

"Fine! Contact the other ship and tell them to follow us. Jack will not be happy with this. Another Frakking failure," Janice said angrily.


	13. 2x01 Revelations

Revelation

2 weeks after Strike at Picon, Day 95 since the fall of the colonies

Admiral Thorn was still in charge while Admiral Stryker remained in sickbay. Since the majority of ships had some kind of damage, the fleet was slowly limping toward the civilian fleet ahead of them. Admiral Sounders did exactly what Stryker ordered; get back to Avalon and do not stop at any cost. Atlantis as well as two other ships were in bad shape and it was unlikely they would be fully battle ready anytime soon.

**Theseus Sick Bay**

"Absolutely not. That is not going to happen," Admiral Stryker said furiously, still lying in his bed in the Theseus sickbay.

"She is wrecked, it would take a large amount of resources to repair her and bring her to full operational status. It would be much easier to simply build a new ship," Admiral Thorn said, "I know you love that ship and that it was your home, but she was almost completely destroyed."

"It survived the impact of a 250Mt nuke, any other Battlestar would have exploded but not Atlantis, and I have absolutely no intention of letting her be scrapped. Once word comes to the civilian fleet about the battle, and from the sight of seeing her damage; she will become a legend, and a bringer of hope to the civilians. They will feel safe knowing that Atlantis is guarding them. This conversation is over and I do not want to hear about it again. If need be, I will take all the resources needed to repair her. You must understand that ship saved my life more than twice," Admiral Stryker said.

"I understand, but as I said it would be much better scrapping her. As you wish though, Atlantis will get priority in repairs once we rejoin the fleet. If we increase speed we might be able to catch our fleet in a few days. Do you want me to get a full report about the fleet's status?" Admiral Thorn asked.

"No, I already know," Admiral Stryker said.

"If I may say, your plan worked almost perfectly. We lost only two ships, and unfortunately we lost half of our fighters," Admiral Thorn said sadly.

"It might sound like small losses compared with the enemy, but still we lost too many. However, I am at peace knowing that the survivors on Picon will be safe for now. Having the full defense grid, those ground based cannons, and the marines will keep them safe until we can return. If that is all, I want to rest now," Admiral Stryker said.

"Of course," Admiral Thorn said and left the room.

After Admiral Thorn left, Admiral Stryker tried to get sleep, but it didn't work. For the last five days he hadn't been able to sleep and had been having nightmares of the colonies being nuked while he was in middle of it, watching his friends and crewmembers dying all around him, and seeing the Atlantis X.O. dying. _At least_ Stryker thought to himself, _Commander Haller survived_. Nightmares, they followed him each night, each time he tried to get at least an hour of rest. He won, but paid a high price. After he thought about it, he knew Thorn was right; they had been lucky this time, catching the Cylons by surprise and losing only two ships. What would have happened if they lost half of their ships or all of them? It would have been a real disaster.

"I must stop thinking," Admiral Stryker said to himself, "can't take this anymore." He was worried. What would come next; the Cylons are not defeated, this will only anger them, and they will try to find the fleet. The civilians saw Atlantis as the flagship, the ship that saved them many times. If he lost her, it would bring morale even lower than it was, even if there were other much stronger ships in fleet.

After some time, Stryker finally got some long wanted sleep, but the dream he had was strange. He tried to wake up only to find that he was surrounded by light.

"You finally came," a female voice said.

"Who are you, where am I?" Admiral Stryker asked.

"So many questions you have, as always," the female voice said amused.

"Very few of our children get to this level to be able to communicate with us," the voice said.

"I don't understand?" Admiral Stryker said.

"You will; you will evolve more than others, you will understand things no one else can. You are tasked with a most important mission; saving your people from extinction. Many others believed your race was too primitive and you would destroy yourselves with your constant fighting with each other, but in the end your own machines did it for you," the voice said.

"Show yourself," Admiral Stryker said, not comfortable with this; he liked more to talk in person and watch the other person's eyes.

"As you wish," the voice said, "I am here."

He turned and saw a young woman maybe in her late 20s, in a white dress with long golden hair. He stood watching her; somehow there was something familiar about this woman.

"Who are you?" Admiral Stryker asked.

"You don't recognize me? How sad," she replied.

"I do not," Admiral Stryker said.

"Very well, I am Athena," she said watching him. As she knew would happen and expected; he did not understand or believe her.

"That cannot be, Athena is a goddess. The protector of Libran," Admiral Stryker said.

"That is a true in a way," Athena said.

"I believe that the gods are myths, and I am from Caprica; why are you showing yourself to me?" Admiral Stryker asked.

"Hmmm everything strange and new is a miracle to others; to the one who first sees a fire it will be miracle, who first sees lightning it's a miracle. Your species called us gods simply because of what they saw us able to do," Athena said.

"You mean you are real, your species?" Admiral Stryker asked.

"Yes. We found humans on a distant planet where they evolved naturally, during one of our earliest expeditions in that sector of space. Your race was primitive, in chaos, but it was only the beginning. We saw a great potential in humans, but also a capacity for great destruction. We took a few of them with us to the planet that you call the birthplace of humanity: Kobol. We observed and watched out for you. We taught you art, science, and everything that you know today," Athena said.

"But why, you are more advanced than us. Why waste your time with such a primitive species, trying to teach it something?" Admiral Stryker asked.

"Time is irrelevant for us; we do not have the same view of time as you. We evolved many millennia ago. Our species was much like yours; we began to search the stars in space, and in our journeys we found a race even older than us. The race we found taught us much and helped us to evolve. Unfortunately we didn't see that their motives at the time were not honest ones. They were at war with a very old and deadly race; a race that we do not have a name for except the Purifiers. We didn't know then that they wanted us to become their foot soldiers to have someone to fight for them. We fought together with the elder race because we knew that the Purifiers would likely see us as another enemy if they won the war. We created sentient machines to fight the purifiers. They fought the purifiers and won, and they locked the survivors away for eternity.

There was peace for a time. Unfortunately it was short lived as our machines turned against us, seemingly due to a virus infecting them and their decisions. They destroyed the older race and then turned their sights on us. We were able to fight back and we defeated them. There were survivors and they escaped in the corners of space, hiding so we couldn't find them. Time went by and we assumed the machines had either died out or left us alone in peace. We evolved and moved on through space, in time finding your race in a primitive state on your original home world. When we came across your race and we decided to help you, to teach you as the older race once taught us – to prepare you so you could stand on your own and defend yourselves. We brought several thousand of your species to the planet you later named Kobol. Centuries passed and your kind evolved, becoming more civilized but also more destructive; organizing yourselves amongst tribes and fighting amongst each other. Slowly but surely, Kobol became a prosperous world despite your kinds fighting and the 14 tribes of Kobol continued evolving their technology," Athena said.

"14? 12 colonies of Kobol exist and we believed the 13th to be a myth, but we've never heard of a 14th," Admiral Stryker said interrupting incredulously.

"That is because everything known about the 14th tribe was lost after their sudden departure from Kobol; their disappearance in the eyes of the other tribes seemed like the gods were punishing and destroying them. The truth is that a few thousand years before the exodus of all the tribes, the 14th tribe composed of scientists and the smartest humans on Kobol departed to make a home on a new planet, seeing that the rest of the tribes would eventually destroy themselves. Hermes, Demeter, and Aphrodite took them on a journey to new worlds far from Kobol. You found one of their colonies, one of their attempts to seed their lives on new worlds," Athena said.

"We found one world, a dead world, and lots of debris in orbit," Admiral Stryker said.

"A monument. Unfortunately for them, the sector of space that you call Terminus was crawling with harvesters. The 14th tribe made first contact with our creations, the Harvesters as we called them when they went rogue, a hundred years later and were almost entirely decimated in the next two decades. Only Aphrodite from the three guardians that left with the 14th tribe survived. She moved what was left of the tribe even deeper into the sector, to a new world that the surviving Arcadians colonized and made their home," Athena said.

"Arcadians?" Admiral Stryker asked.

"That is the name of their people based off the colony they created," Athena said.

"Are they still alive?" Admiral Stryker asked.

"Yes, and they know that you are there. They have observed you, but they fear to introduce themselves because of the harvesters. They want to warn you about the danger that surrounds you, but they can't," Athena said.

"What happened after their departure from Kobol?" Admiral Stryker asked.

"For some time it was an ideal place to live, but 2000 years after the 14th tribe left the 13th tribe set out for their own home far from Kobol as well. The thing you must know first though is that the 13th tribe was not made up normal humans. We tried to play god and made our versions of humans because we saw the mistakes and imperfections your race had. They were smarter, stronger, and better organized and as such they were out casted from the other tribes quite quickly onto an isolated island away from the other tribes, long before their exile. Outcasts from the other tribes joined the 13th tribe over time. A few hundred years passed since the 13th tribe came together, and several tribes started a war. Seeing that this could destroy them all, the 13th tribe departed Kobol with Apollo's and my help. They travelled to a world that they called Earth. We believed they would live and prosper, but we were wrong. After a thousand years they went silent. I myself went to see what happened; all I found was that they had annihilated themselves. They created an AI: the first metal Cylons, who rebelled and a nuclear war started that destroyed their civilization. The few that survived left Earth to warn the rest of the tribes not to make their own Cylons.

But after devastating wars that lasted for centuries, Kobol was no longer capable of sustaining life, so the remaining 12 colonies departed the planet with a guide of remaining guardians. They came to the Cyrannus system where they found 12 planets capable of sustaining them; 12 planets that were terraformed by us years ago, knowing that it would come to this. Several of us stayed for a time, but eventually we left believing that it was your destiny to evolve on your own. We were wrong.

At the time the survivors from Earth finally arrived at the colonies, the 12 colonies of Kobol had already been at war with their own mechanical Cylons for a decade. So many deaths, so many pointless deaths, with my guidance and help from the survivors from Earth the Cylons agreed to stop the war if they could look like humans. The Earth survivors agreed to make them human bodies and thus the human models of Cylons that you've seen recently in the second Cylon war of the twelve colonies were born. The rest of history you already know, more or less," Athena said.

"And why have you chosen me?" Admiral Stryker asked.

"You were chosen because you are a natural leader; you pledged yourself and your life to save all your people, and to start a new civilization. You were chosen because you can defeat the Cylons and the harvesters. Avalon will be a prosperous colony, and in the future humanity will rise again; without our guidance, without help. Now sleep, you will get your answers with time," Athena said.

Admiral Stryker slept for 12 hours. He didn't believe all that he saw; the woman called Athena, the history that she told, he believed that it was a dream, only a dream.

Invictus, Avalon system

In the large observation room, Commander Krasner, Governor Miral and Chief Williams talked about recent events that started with moving Sanctuary in orbit of Avalon.

"From what our scouts said as soon as the probes appeared in system where we found Sanctuary and they saw that it was missing; reinforcements arrived. One mothership type of ship and two or three dozen probes. They started scanning the entire system. If they continue looking for Sanctuary in surrounding systems it'll only be a matter of time before they find us here," Chief Williams said.

"How can they find us, when we are in a separate system several jumps from there?" Governor Miral asked.

"I don't have the right answer to that governor, but it's possible they can track FTL engines and even if they can't, searching the entire system will eventually lead them here when they've searched everywhere else," Commander Krasner replied, "now, I have put all units on action stations just in case they show up, but unfortunately governor this is only one of the problems we face now."

"How so?" Governor Miral asked.

"With the last transmission we received from the fleet, there are almost 3 million survivors coming to Avalon. Right now we only have a place for 350,000 to 400,000 at best. We benefited from the 6500 people from Sanctuary joining the work crews on building cities while sanctuary was repaired, and we used the automated equipment on the surface to construct buildings at a very rapid rate. We completed the first city and the surrounding military bases, and then rushed construction on 7 other cities after hearing how many people were coming, but those buildings we completed in those cities were mostly huge apartment complexes to hold more people in fewer buildings. Even with all the automated abilities of the construction equipment and the boost of people working on the planet, there's still only so much we can do in a short amount of time," Commander Krasner said.

"I told you commander; leave your military projects for later after the fleet arrived, but you didn't listen. It was already enough that we have so many busy with repairing the Sanctuary, now we also have teams building that other ship too," Governor Miral said angrily, his eyes narrowing.

"Those 332 workers work fast, yet it will take them about another 2 months to finish the new gunstar. There's only a few hundred workers on the gunstar and sanctuary, so there really wouldn't be very much improvement had those workers been on the planet instead. Also, Sanctuary is eating a lot of our resources, but if we want to keep those probes out of Avalon Sanctuary is the best protection that we have. She is much stronger and resilient than Invictus. Since Invictus is our main production facility, we must do everything to protect her as well as the planet," Commander Krasner said.

"Did we receive any news from the fleet?" Governor Miral asked.

"Yes governor, the fleet is on its way here under the command of Admiral Sounders. Admirals Stryker and Thorn led an assault on Picon. From their last transmission, they destroyed the enemy forces there, but lost two battlestars. Admiral Stryker was wounded, and Atlantis is out of commission for the foreseeable future; she was hit by a 250Mt nuke," Commander Krasner said.

"My gods," Chief Williams said shocked, "she survived?"

"Yes she did, but she's in very bad shape," Commander Krasner said.

Governor Miral was preparing to leave when Commander Krasner stopped him. "Governor, by the time Atlantis and the fleet arrives, we will have enough room for 1 million people in cities, mostly in large apartment complexes, and we'll have enough tent areas to bring down a large amount of the remaining civilians so they have a place to stay while we create buildings for them," Commander Krasner said.

"Thank you commander," Governor Miral said.

An unknown system on the edge of galaxy...

Unknown planet at the edge of the system; dark, without life, uninhabitable for humanoids, and full of volcanos and gases. However on the top of the highest mountain a palace stood, surrounded by some kind of force field that imitated a blue and sunny day and protected all those inside from the rest of the planet.

On one of the balconies, a young woman sat and watched the holographic sun, while a man approached.

"You shouldn't do that, if your father finds out about it you will be in trouble," the man said.

"Ares my brother do not be alarmed, he will not find out about it. I prepared for this for a long time," Athena said.

"Nevertheless, you know the rules; we guide the humans, not interfere with their lives," Ares said.

"This is not interference; it was only a short communication with one human. And I doubt he will tell anyone, and even if he does nobody will believe him. He was injured," Athena said, watching her brother's eyes.

"Yes, maybe, but do you really think he can understand what you said to him?" Ares asked.

"Humans have changed much in all these years. They are still primitive, crude, and fighting with each other. But they are advanced enough to travel between the stars. They have a lot to learn, but they have the opportunity to grow and improve, to be far better than before on the twelve colonies," Athena said.

"I see you trust them, a race which a long time ago evolved on a backwater planet, primitives. Now after all these years, they still fight against each other, and they even managed to bring themselves to the brink of extinction," Ares said.

"It is not their fault," Athena said defensively.

"How so? They created those Cylons; giving them artificial intelligence, they started making life - even if only mechanical, they started to play gods," Ares said.

"Isn't that what we have been doing for all these millennia? Just because we have advanced far superior technology than them, and we have the ability to exist as pure energy even for short time, does that make us better? We were just like them once," Athena said.

Athena's race evolved to the point that they could turn into pure light energy, but only for a few months. Some members like her father evolved completely, which allowed them to be energy all the time, and become immortals. Although all of them are immortals in one or another due to their advanced tech and superior bodies allowing them to live such long lives. But still they are capable to retain their original humanoid look. In their energy form they are able to live forever, in humanoid form their lifespan is about 40-100 million years. Over the years and eons more and more are evolving to the state of pure energy, retaining their humanoid shape only if necessary.

"We helped the humans; we took them from their original home world when they were still primitives. We guided them as the Corians did with us," Athena continued.

"And they still didn't learn, no matter how well we tried to guide them. I admit there is improvement, but still, the destruction of 12 colonies proves just that. If the Cylons didn't do it, they would have destroyed themselves in a matter of decades or centuries. It is still in their nature to fight among each other," Ares said.

"Have faith in them brother, I have and you should too," Athena said.

"Why?" Ares asked.

"Because they have the potential to be much more than they actually are. Yes they are evolving and learning slowly, but if they survive they will eventually evolve to our own point of existence. Any other race we've encountered so far would use every means necessary to rise and exterminate or conquer others. Humans don't; they struggle to survive. Their new home that they colonized far from the 12 Colonies system is a new beginning. They will succeed, no matter how hard it is. Admiral Stryker himself will eventually find his peace at the birth place of humanity," Athena said.

"Is that fact or prophecy?" Ares asked.

"Both," Athena said.

"Fine sister, but limit contact as much as you can. Even if you must only communicate with Stryker when he's asleep. If father finds out, you are on your own, you know the law well," Ares said.

Battlestar Atlantis C.I.C.

Commander Haller observed the command center, still in ruins. The news that Colonel Slater died from her injuries struck Haller deeply, as well as the fact that almost 800 other crewmembers shared the same fate.

Thanks only to the admiral; this ship was spared from being scrapped for parts. Admiral Thorn insisted on it since the ship was in extremely bad condition. Thorn tried to assure Admiral Stryker a few times that they would build a new ship, but Stryker didn't want to hear about it. Haller didn't blame Stryker, after all this was their home for almost 2 years. And they would not abandon it, no matter how badly damaged the ship is.

Still it would take a lot of resources to put Atlantis back in one piece. From what Thorn said, this time the flagship would receive some nasty upgrades, no matter what Admiral Stryker said about it, and there was no argument from Commander Haller about Thorn's decision.

After a few more minutes, Haller left C.I.C and went straight to his quarters. After he got inside, he opened the locker in his desk and took a small bottle of ambrosia then sat on his bed and took a few sips from the bottle. _No doubt the Cylons are pissed_, Haller thought to himself. _They will do everything they can to find the fleet and destroy it after this._ _At least we secured Picon. With the defenses left behind and the orbital defense grid, Picon will be safe for a while_. _And we know all seven human models of Cylons. They will not fool humans again_. After taking a few more sips of ambrosia, Haller picked up the repair report, reading half of it before returning it to the desk. Then he took out another paper containing blueprints of a new mechanical walker that Olympia R&D section was making. A 13 foot tall mech unit with one operator inside; which was armed with two 8 barrel guns, and four missile launchers. New ceramic-ablative armor was developed specifically for ground vehicles as well.

When the Cylons meet this new colonial toy, they will be shocked, because the walker would be capable of dealing with centurions as well as raiders. But still it was just a blueprint. The actual prototype was not completed yet, and from the last reports construction hasn't even started. Nevertheless it would be a fine addition once completed.

Commander was broken from his thoughts after hearing someone knocking on the doors. He hid the blueprints and bottle in his desk locker.

"Come in," Commander Haller said.

The doors opened and Major Morales entered the room.

"Sir, here is the report about our viper strengths and losses," Major Morales said.

"Thank you major, have a seat. Did we lose any veterans in the recent battle?" Commander Haller asked.

"Yes sir we did; Dick "Spunge" Roxter and Alvin "Chieftain" Stomper, they were the best viper pilots I have had a chance to serve with," Major Morales said sadly.

"They were indeed," Commander Haller said nodding.

"The majority of our losses were rookies. Unfortunately this battle proved to be hard as hell for them; they were simply not ready for it," Major Morale said.

"I am sorry major that we used most of your pilots for the raptor assault on their hub," Commander Haller said.

"Tell me that it was worth it," Major Morales said.

"It was. We found some encrypted data that once we decrypt may prove useful; we also got samples of their jump technology. It's pretty advanced; more advanced and accurate than our own. Also a few biological samples," Commander Haller said.

"Why do we need the biological samples?" Major Morales asked.

"The Cylons know they can't fool us again Major. They know that we know about all of their seven models. Except for the final five, if it's true what our Cylon "Guests" said, though even they don't know where the final five are and have even been programmed to not think about them," Commander Haller explained.

"All five?" Major Morales asked.

"Yes. But the Cylons can also do surgical changes to try and fool us again to infiltrate our fleet. With what we recovered, we might be able to construct scanners that will detect them. And if there is any in the fleet we will find them sooner or later," Commander Haller said.

"I see, sir," Major Morales said.

"Is that all major?" Commander Haller asked.

"Yes sir, and since Atlantis is not in the shape for a fight, we transferred all of our fighters to the other ships until she is repaired," Major Morales said.

"Under whose orders?" Commander Haller asked angrily.

"Admiral Thorn's sir?" Major Morales said uncertainly.

"Hmm, that will be all major, thank you," Commander Haller said and Major Morales left the room quietly.

"Damn Thorn, if the Cylons intercept us Atlantis will be unprotected, no matter the mobile dock defenses and fighters. One more nuke and this ship that hardly survived won't be repaired," Commander Haller said to himself.

5 Days Later, 100 Days Since the Fall

The battle fleet finally met with the main fleet. Admiral Sounders was happy to see that so many ships survived the assault on Picon, but her smile disappeared when she saw Atlantis. She barely recognized flagship, wondering how the hell it was possible that anyone survived on that ship.

Civilians on ships with windows observed the incoming ships, many barely breathing after seeing the extensive damage on the Battlestars, and there was no ship without damage, even the Warstars had some.

Atlantis and another Battlestar were put on the Unity for priority repairs, and the remaining badly damaged Battlestar was docked with the external docks on Eternity. The loss of the Freedom and Athena was heard all around the fleet. Civilians who had members of their family serving on those ships questioned around if any of them survived.

But word that Cylon forces at Picon were destroyed and that the planet was safe for now was a big boost to morale. However not all were happy, some questioned the military if it was really necessary to go to Avalon when Picon was secure. Couldn't they return and re-settle on it? They had plenty of ships for protection.

Still there were lots of Cylon ships, including the one big dreadstar, from the Cylons fleet that could threaten Picon. Also, after Caprica was destroyed, nobody really wanted to return to Cyrannus anymore. Avalon was their new home, whether they liked it or not.

Admiral Stryker was released from sickbay on Theseus. Since he was still not in shape to return to duty he was given quarters on Unity, letting him work from his quarters until his ship was repaired and he was ready for duty.

Admirals Sounders and Thorn entered Stryker's current quarters.

"Sit down please," Admiral Stryker said sitting on the desk.

"Admiral you should lay down, you are in no shape to wander around," Admiral Thorn said.

"Your concern is touching," Admiral Stryker said sarcastically with a smile, "the reason I called for you is our next step."

"Next step?" Admiral Sounders asked.

"Yes. We know that the Galactica and her fleet survived and headed to the Promar sector. I want five ships to head to the Promar sector to find her and bring her back to Avalon," Admiral Stryker said.

"With all due respect, we just returned from battle. Half of our ships are not prepared for a fight, we..." Admiral Thorn started to say before being interrupted.

"I understand Admiral Thorn, but we may have a clue where she is. Our Cylon pris..guests on board this fleet said that they had a possible location or route where Galactica's fleet is heading. As we know, Adama is trying to find Earth. If we can find him, we can bring him to Avalon," Admiral Stryker said abruptly interrupting Admiral Thorn.

"You forgot the large Cylon fleet following the Galactica," Admiral Sounders said.

"Actually no. My plan is simple; find Galactica, and either destroy a large portion of their fleet or set a small ship with a plotted course deeper in the Promar sector for the Cylons to continue following. Even if they don't, there is no chance they will find us. This order stands and I do not want any discussion about it," Admiral Stryker said firmly.

"Who will lead the fleet and which ships?" Admiral Thorn asked.

"Commander Belzen, I gave him command of the Vanguard. The other two Battlestars in the group will be the Valkyrie and Chimera," Admiral Stryker said.

"What? Two Mercuries, but we need them!" Admiral Thorn yelled, "My apologies, I go too far."

"No it was my mistake that I didn't inform you before of this plan. However I want two strong ships to participate in the search for Galactica and with good reason. From our cylon guests we found that the Battlestar Pegasus survived as well and headed to Promar too, shadowing the Cylon fleet. These ships are more insurance against Cain than the Cylons," Admiral Stryker said.

"I know sir that you have grudges with Admiral Cain but…" Admiral Sounders said.

"No grudges, if Pegasus finds the Galactica Cain will take command of the fleet, and you both know what she is capable of. After leaving her executive officer to die, after dismantling the civilian fleet and killing the families of those that didn't want to join her crew… She is unstable and I want to have the force to take Pegasus if needed, not destroy her, but disable and the right person for this job is Commander Belzen. He will want payback no matter how good friends they were before and he knows Cain and the Pegasus better than anyone else. The other two ships will be one tanker and one supply ship.

I also want the prisoner ships gone through and the prisoners with fleet experience and minor crimes to be immediately drafted into the fleet: their crimes wiped clean in exchange for their services in the fleet. This should get us about a hundred more fleet personnel that we could desperately use. I want the civilian shipyards to start production on more mining and refinery ships which we will need at Avalon, in addition to their services in helping to repair the civilian ships with engine trouble on the way to Avalon. I want our shipyards to start running through the salvageable ships we retrieved from Picon and Caprica; they are to scrap the ships too damaged to repair or would take years to fix and use their parts to repair and update our other warships. This could also allow us to put extra weapons such as cannons, missile launchers, and point defense onto some of our Battlestars. Other ships that can be repaired from the salvageable wrecks are to immediately be put to task, so hopefully when we arrive at Avalon a majority of them will be ready for duty. I also want the R&D department running through the jump engine designs we received from the Cylon resurrection hub and to start doing what is necessary to upgrade our own set of Nav and FTL systems. Moreover, I want our heavier transports to be upgraded with FTL drives using similar specs to Atlantis and Argona for the return trip from Avalon to the colonies. Now, that is all, you are dismissed," Admiral Stryker said.

In the corridor leading to the left flight bay...

"I don't like this plan. Those ships are going with only a small amount of supplies they can take with them. Tylium tanker but no mining ship. If they don't find Galactica within a few months to a year they will be forced to come back before they are stuck out there with no way to return," Admiral Thorn said.

"They can't be far away. I believe they can find Galactica and maybe Pegasus as well. Cain must pay for her atrocities that she committed," Admiral Sounders said coldly. She never liked Cain; she was too arrogant, stubborn, and acted like a dictator, not an Admiral.


	14. 2x02 The Search Pt1

**The Search**

Commander Belzen knocked on Admiral Strykers door and after hearing Admiral Stryker call out to enter, he opened the door and went inside.

Admiral Stryker gestured with his arm for Commander Belzen to sit down, and the Commander obeyed. Belzen knew that the reason must be important for calling him in; that it had to be about the mission the Admiral once told him he would lead.

"Commander Belzen, I chose you for a very delicate mission. You will lead a small fleet of five ships in a search for Galactica and Pegasus," Admiral Stryker said.

"If I may ask, what ships will be participating in the search sir?" Commander Belzen asked.

"Battlestars Vanguard, Chimera, and Valkyrie, as well as one supply ship and one tylium tanker full of tylium will take part in this mission. You will be in charge of the entire group. The tanker will keep your small fleet going for about a two years max before you run out of fuel, so you have a set deadline to find Galactica's fleet or turn around," Admiral Stryker said.

"Sir, I understand, but what if we run into the Cylons during the search?" Commander Belzen asked.

"Under no circumstances are you to engage the Cylon forces, except if you are compromised and must defend yourself. Send scouts all around, but do not engage them. Your goal is to find the Galactica and her fleet and if possible the Pegasus. Nothing else. Is that understood Commander?" Admiral Stryker said firmly.

"One more thing sir, why do I need three battlestars? I mean two Mercury class Battlestars will burn through a lot of fuel. I don't know how far we can go with only one supply ship and tylium tanker," Commander Belzen said.

"All three Battlestars have a full tank of fuel, water, and everything that is needed for at least a one year search and a return trip. Remember you have the supply ship filled with spare parts, food, and everything you need. The Tanker, as I said, can drill extra Tylium out of asteroids if needed. But since she is currently full, it won't be necessary for now. Another reason Commander is for insurance in case you find the Pegasus and Cain does not comply with my orders. I am Fleet Admiral so I doubt she will refuse a direct order, however her judgment is in question and she will not take losing her rank or ship lightly. In case the Pegasus tries something you have permission to disable her, not destroy but disable. If the Pegasus continues to resist after being disabled, with some foolish ramming maneuvers, blast her to the heavens," Admiral Stryker said.

"I understand sir, but I hope that it will not be necessary to do that," Commander Belzen replied.

"I hope so as well Commander. Your fleet is to launch in 48 hours, I suggest you take some free time for yourself, good luck Commander," Admiral Stryker said.

"Thank you sir," Commander Belzen said.

**2 days later...**

**Vanguard C.I.C.**

"Commander all systems are green. All ships are responding; they are ready to jump to Promar on your command," Colonel Shelly Magene said.

"Good work, inform the fleet that we are jumping in 30 seconds," Commander Belzen replied.

"Sir, incoming message from command, Admiral Stryker says good luck and good hunting," the communications officer said.

"Well we're going to need it, jump on my mark; 5, 4, 3, 2, 1 jump," Commander Belzen said.

Two Mercury class Battlestars, the Valkyrie, and two support ships; the tylium tanker and the supply ship all jump away from the main fleet on its way to Avalon.

**Unity – Admiral Stryker's Assigned Quarters**

From his new quarters, Admiral Stryker observed as the five ships disappeared and quietly said, "Good luck."

Someone knocked on the door, the Admiral turned and said, "Come in."

Admiral Thorn entered the room and sat down.

"So they are on their way; do you really think they will find Galactica?" Admiral Thorn asked.

"I doubt you came just to say that," Admiral Stryker replied.

"No, actually, I have a few suggestions for you that R&D came out with, and also Delegate Campus wants to see you," Admiral Thorn said.

"How nice of him," Admiral Stryker said sarcastically, "let me hear what it is that you wanted to bring to my attention."

"A new class of Battlestars," Admiral Thorn said shortly.

"I'm afraid I don't follow," Admiral Stryker said, raising an eyebrow.

"I have a proposal for a new class of battlestars, and before you say no, we have more than enough resources to build at least half a dozen Battlestars and fix our other ships in the fleet," Admiral Thorn said.

"I already directed a large amount of resources to repair Atlantis," Admiral Stryker said, worried that Admiral Thorn might want to divert supplies from repairing Atlantis and instead make new Battlestars.

"Yes I know, I am taking personal responsibility for your ship, and I promise it will be the strongest ship in the fleet once my engineers are finished with her," Admiral Thorn said.

"Why do I have a weird feeling about that? OK, I see you already have schematics for the new Battlestars so let's take a look," Admiral Stryker said curiously.

Admiral Thorn gave the schematics of the new ship class to Admiral Stryker.

"Nike class Battlestar?" Admiral Stryker asked in confusion, his eyebrows scrunching up while reading the title at the top of the schematics.

"It looks a lot like the Nova class," Admiral Stryker said looking questioningly at Admiral Thorn.

"That's because many of the parts are from the Nova class. Mainly her head is different, but she packs a punch even more powerful than the Nova class; she also has similar specs to Theseus, but with some improvements to the design to be even better than Theseus. By all calculations she will be 25% more resilient than the Nova class. There is also a chance to test those new improved pulse cannons that will act as her point defensive grid," Admiral Thorn said.

"Impressive. How long would you need to build one?" Admiral Stryker asked.

"One year using the main dock on Unity, and I'd like to build a second one on Eternity as well," Admiral Thorn replied.

"I believe we can fix that and you can go ahead with this. But I want all ships to be in a shape to fight in case we have problems with the Cylons or those probes," Admiral Stryker said.

"Probes? After that short encounter you had, there have been no other contacts," Admiral Thorn said.

"I know, but if you read the report in full you would find that after they moved Sanctuary to Avalon the drones returned at their exact time. As soon as they saw that Sanctuary was no longer there, they brought a mother ship and started searching nearby systems for Sanctuary. Commander Krasner has put all colonial units in orbit of Avalon on standby for combat. I want the number of scouts around the fleet to be doubled so we're prepared for anything," Admiral Stryker said.

"Yes sir, and I will let Delegate Campus in; I believe he doesn't like to wait," Admiral Thorn said.

"Send him in," Admiral Stryker said sighing in anticipation of meeting with Delegate Campus.

As Admiral Thorn left, Delegate Campus entered.

"Admiral, it's good to see that you're ok—," Delegate Campus started to say.

"Cut the pleasantries. Why did you want to speak with me?" Admiral Stryker asked abruptly.

"It's about your mission, a small fleet that just departed," Delegate Campus said.

"May I presume that the quorum is not happy with my decision to search for the Galactica?" Admiral Stryker asked.

"They want her to be found as you do, but they don't want to take unnecessary risk. You just sent two Mercury and one Valkyrie class Battlestars away from this fleet. This weakens our defenses incredibly. The Quorum is already angry about your attack on Picon, and the loss of two battlestars there," Delegate Campus said.

"It is normal to have casualties in war delegate and to be honest I expected that we would lose much more than only two ships, but we were victorious and..." Admiral Stryker started to say before being interrupted.

"This time admiral, this time, but what about next time? Will you see things our way only when we lose another dozen Battlestars?" Delegate Campus asked interrupting.

"Delegate didn't they teach you in school that it is very rude to interrupt somebody in the middle of a sentence? Yes we got lucky this time and we had casualties. However, we showed the Cylons that we can strike them anywhere, and we reclaimed a large number of people and resources. As for the ships searching for Galactica, don't worry Delegate Campus; we have more than enough defenses to protect the entire fleet," Admiral Stryker said.

"I hope you're right. After what happened to Caprica; the quorum is not ready take any unnecessary risks, and the Cylons could do the same thing to Picon, where you left people behind there, as they did to Caprica," Delegate Campus said.

"Hmmm, I believe that was a mistake they made unintentionally, something they didn't want to happen. I doubt they will risk destroying another planet," Admiral Stryker said.

"Nevertheless the quorum..." Delegate Campus said.

"Now I will be the one to interrupt you Delegate. There is no need for the quorum to mess with military decisions; so far this fleet survives thanks to our work and there is no need for a change in that now. And if I were in your shoes, I would be careful of where I went and with who I talked with about questionable matters. Oh, I see you are surprised, but there has been more than one time that we caught you with your supporters talking negatively about the military. Don't do stupid things Delegate," Admiral Stryker said interrupting.

After a few seconds of shock, Delegate Campus responded, "Are you threatening me Admiral?"

"No Delegate, I am only giving you a small friendly warning; we are at war, do not try to mutiny against the military. As I said: once we arrive at Avalon the civilian government will have power again, and until then the military is the one making decisions. Whether the Quorum likes it or not, it is what it is," Admiral Stryker said.

"Fine, I don't have anything to say for now," Delegate Campus said.

"Good, thank you for visit," Admiral Stryker said.

Angry, Delegate Campus left the room, thus leaving Fleet Admiral Stryker to examine some of the reports of the new tech that Olympia R&D created.

**Invictus C.I.C. Avalon system**

"Report," Commander Krasner said while entering the C.I.C.

"A Stealthstar just jumped in; Lieutenant Hobert reported a large amount of drones in the system Sanctuary was originally found in and in all systems around it. Lieutenant Hobert is not sure exactly what those drones are doing, though we can assume they're probably trying to figure how the hell such a large ship disappeared and where it went," Colonel Brenton said.

"I want all colonial units on tactical alert, and order the Sword and her escorts to return from the other side of the planet. Once they arrive, all units are to go onto grey mode. If these things can track FTL gods know what else they can track as well. I want minimal power used on all ships. Invictus will be on blue mode; if some of our patrol raptors on the edges of this system see drones then Invictus is to go to black mode," Commander Krasner said.

Grey mode was usually used for stealth or for an emergency. All ships would operate under limited power with enough for gravity, life support, and only passive scanners. All non essential areas of the ship were shut down, weapons and propulsion's are also down, and only the thrusters remained working so that ships close to a planet didn't get too close and burn up in the atmosphere.

Blue mode is when the military ships shut down all weapons but leave the propulsion at 50% and all basic systems on, with an emergency FTL jump charged in case it was needed.

Black mode is the total shut down of the ship, leaving only gravity and life support in parts of the ship where the crew are. All hands were to remain at their posts since all non essential parts of the ships would be without gravity and life support. Passive scanners working only. On black mode even the thrusters were to be shut down. However, since Invictus is in a stationary position, this does not matter much as she acts as the orbiting satellite of the planet.

"Right away sir and one more thing; Dr. Aren and Chief Williams need to see you in Dr. Aren's lab," Colonel Brenton said.

**Invictus research department - Dr. Aren's laboratory**

"Ah, Commander, good to see you," Dr. Aren said.

Chief Williams was also present.

"So gentlemen, you had something for me?" Commander Krasner asked.

"Yes sir, there are a few things we found out about the drones. After the fight between them and the Gunstar Onyx; we salvaged one drone during our flight back to the Gunstar," Dr. Aren started, "It was badly damaged by the Onyx's guns."

"Yes doc, I know that," Commander Krasner said impatiently.

"But we didn't make progress in understanding about the drone in the past, and now we have. First the Armor and propulsion sir. The propulsion is based on anti-matter technology and I must say it's far more advanced than anything the Colonial navy has ever created, which includes the Sanctuary. Drones are barely 12 meters long, but they are deadly in every way. High maneuverability, speed, and they are designed without the need for a pilot. It's no wonder our pilots have problems shooting them down: they are much faster and in every way better. They are even more dangerous than the Cylon raiders because they aren't alive. As we've learned from the Cylons; raiders have a biological system similar to an animal, they have a need to keep themselves alive as long as possible even with their ability to resurrect, they are unwilling to commit suicide because they've been raised to think it's a sin, and they act like a pet. Drones on the other hand are completely devoid of life and willing to do anything to destroy their target, including commit suicide runs into their target. Their armor is a story all on its own; it took us a month just to cut through it," Dr. Aren said.

"The armor is that strong?" Commander Krasner asked surprised.

"Yes, it appears it was created to stop energy weapons sir. Whoever designed it didn't take into account primitive projectile weaponry. However, the drone's armor can take lots of hits from Viper fire before being disabled and destroyed. If we succeed in duplicating this armor, we can add it onto our own fighters. Next, the drones' weapons, which there seem to be two different versions; one with dual energy cannons that I would call pulse cannons, and on the second version is a stronger single cannon. Each weapon has its own battery; a form of fusion, though I've never seen this kind of design. In short; these batteries completely charge the drone guns, there's no need for taking power from the engines, and they are barely one meter in size. There is no life support as I said, because they are automated, and from what I've seen each has its own AI that guides them; however they have some kind of transmitter controlling them. They all have some kind of signal they use to call for help using a transmitter, and this signal is probably being sent from the mother ships to them and back and forth for the drones to request and receive orders," Dr. Aren said.

"What's your opinion on this chief?" Commander Krasner asked.

"Sir, I've been an engineer for 25 years and I've never seen anything like this. If we, as Dr. Aren said, have a little luck and we can duplicate this technology: we might want, and be able, to upgrade all our units with it. There are many of things we don't understand about the technology though and unfortunately who ever built these drones did not leave a manual about the technology involved," Chief Williams said.

"Take your time chief; examine each part of the drone, work with our scientists and engineers, and try to see what you can do. Now what more do you have to tell me Doc?" Commander Krasner asked.

"Well we can be certain of two things. First, these markings; I've never seen any like them in my life or in artifacts found back home. Second, from the story or log, I think we might have a problem sir," Dr. Aren said.

"I don't think I understand," Commander Krasner said.

"The people that lived on that colony had a legend; in ancient times the gods created machines to fight a race of pure evil who fought the titans (the race of beings above the gods the people of the colony worshipped) and the gods. In short, the gods, as people called them, were a highly advanced race that guided the citizens of the colony. The titans were an even older race that helped the gods to evolve and guided them similar as to how the gods guided these people. The evil race was locked away by the machines of the gods, but shortly after they were infected with a virus and turned against the titans and the gods. The titans were destroyed by the Harvesters, as they were called by the gods after they turned on them, and the Harvesters attacked the gods. The gods defeated the harvesters in a massive battle destroying many on both sides, but survivors of the Harvesters escaped. Shortly after the people of this colony arrived here the Harvesters returned and attacked them, destroying their colonies and almost wiping them all out, except for a few survivors who managed to escape. From the descriptions and pictures we have, I am afraid the drones we've fought were the Harvesters," Dr. Aren said.

Dead silence rang in Dr. Aren's lab as Dr. Aren stop talking.

"So let me see if I understand this correctly; we have ancient machines crawling all around this sector that defeated the humans of that dead world we found," Commander Krasner said.

"Arcadians sir, they were called Arcadians," Dr. Aren said.

"OK, Arcadians. So these Arcadians got their ass kicked by these machines. What kind of trouble are we in?" Commander Krasner asked.

"Big trouble sir, if they can track FTL they can pick up any raptor or stealth fighter. We don't know enough about these drones to know their limits of technology and all we've seen so far points to them being very technologically advanced. Being able to track FTL might only be the tip of the iceberg for their technology advances that we don't have, and we won't know for sure if they can until they're jumping in on top of us. I recommend that we stop all recon missions for now and that we report this to Admiral Stryker. Sir, they are coming with hundreds of ships and large shipyards. If these drones can track FTL, imagine what will happen when our fleet arrives in this sector. No doubt they could track it from a few light years away from their position given the high amount of communication and energy emissions such a large fleet makes," Dr. Aren said.

"But the fleet has many defensive ships and units; they would need a massive force to take on all those ships that are coming," Chief Williams said in disbelief.

"I don't think you understand. They are like Rahnas*, first one arrived, fought and tagged the enemy then an entire swarm jumped in and engaged Sanctuary. We don't know how many mother ships they have, but I would bet thousands. Because if I am correct, and I hope am mistaken, this sector was the place where some of their ancient battles took place," Dr. Aren said.

"So we picked exactly the wrong sector for making a new home, great," Commander Krasner said.

"We didn't know; there were no scrolls detailing about this except the legendary stories from Picon, about gods fighting the titans and locking them on the deserts of Mostffar. These were the only stories and legends telling anything similar to what the Arcadians log says," Dr. Aren said.

"So if these scrolls are actually based on truth, those evil things, or however you want to call them, are somewhere in this galaxy locked away but their minions or the harvesters are still out there?" Commander Krasner asked.

"Probably, but I can't tell. There's no evidence and for all we know the two ancient races fought each other, one created harvesters as we created the Cylons, eventually the harvesters killed their masters and attacked the enemy of their masters as well. We can't know what really happened though," Dr. Aren said.

"We can debate about this forever Dr. Aren, but how do we beat these things, these drones?" Commander Krasner asked.

"From what I've seen of the level of their technology, we can't beat them. Look what they did to Sanctuary; ok the ship was already badly damaged, but this ship itself is a Titan, and was brought down by a few hundred drones and their motherships..." Dr. Aren started to say but was interrupted.

"However, we can try to duplicate their technology and that way if we are attacked we have a much better chance of stopping them," Chief Williams interrupted.

"Good, you both will do everything you can to duplicate and apply this technology to our own. In the meantime I have a report to make for the Admiral," Commander Krasner said.

"Sir, there is one more thing from what we found on that planet. I didn't have a chance to start digging through the files that we found until two weeks ago; these Arcadians, this was one of their colonies. They might still be alive and hidden somewhere, and they also had a legend that I think you will find very interesting," Dr. Aren said.

"How so?" Commander Krasner asked.

"The legend says that thousands of years ago, several of the Gods brought them to this part of galaxy, from a planet where 13 other tribes waged war," Dr. Aren said.

"Thirteen tribes? As in Kobol?" Chief Williams asked watching Dr. Aren.

"Yes, the Arcadians are the 14th tribe," Dr. Aren said.

"How can that be possible? I mean there are scrolls almost as old as the 12 colonies of Kobol, from the first colonists that arrived in the Cyrannus system. The 13th tribe is barely mentioned and considered a myth by most people, so the idea of a 14th…." Commander Krasner said trailing off.

"That's because scrolls that may have confirmed their existence were lost, and similiarly Earth remains a myth, doesn't it? The 13th tribe was said to have left for Earth from Kobol some 2000 years before the remaining 12 tribes left Kobol. And of course there are a few artifacts that said this is true, but I must agree that there is not anything that can connect to the 14th tribe. They must have left Kobol much earlier and that's why there is nothing about them or their departure," Dr. Aren said.

"I will inform the Admiral about the newest findings you've made Doctor. Chief, since we have so many people working on new buildings and houses for survivors we don't have the resources to fully repair Sanctuary. How many people are working on her now?" Commander Krasner asked.

"At least 400 sir," Chief Williams said.

"Cut it to 150, yes I know she is important, but we need to make place for nearly 3 million people. I want at least half of that number in their own houses in cities and the rest in tents and lodges to have somewhere to live when they arrive," Commander Krasner said.

"Sir I can't guarantee that Sanctuary will be functional with only 150 people working on her. Right now she has life support and gravity on only half of the ship, and there are still many hull breaches not yet sealed. The engines are dead, some of the weapons are operational but the majority were destroyed or damaged and even those that work; we don't have power for," Chief Williams said.

"I understand. Concentrate repairs on the sections that are most important and needed right now. It appears that more about a million people will live in tents for their first few years here," Commander Krasner said.

"Well who could've known that Avalon would become a new home for humanity instead of just a colony?" Dr. Aren said rhetorically.

**Promar sector - System X112-7, 1 month after Vanguard's fleet launch **

Five ships jumped instantly. It was jump 60 so far for the Vanguard battle group. In the commander's quarters, Commander Belzen was just starting to write inside his log.

**Commander's log - Battlestar Vanguard**

_It's been 1 month since we left the fleet in search for the Galactica and her fleet. There's been no sign so far. Although we are following the route that was given to us by the Cylons who defected, we are still unable to find Adama. However we found lots of raider and viper wrecks, as well as one basestar wreck at Ragnar, but no Battlestar meaning Galactica rearmed itself and destroyed that baseship._

_We also found a destroyed ship a few days later. After a short analysis, it was discovered that it was a passenger liner named the Olympic Carrier. Metallurgical analysis is still underway to see what destroyed the ship, but we believe the Cylons did it. The ship must have failed to FTL jump and was destroyed by pursuing cylon forces._

_Galactica and her fleet needed around 2 months to get to the system we're currently at, since they travelled as fast as the slowest ship could go. There was a surprise when we found the remains of another cylon baseship in orbit of the fourth planet in this system we're currently at. We detected metals and some debris on the surface so I sent teams down to investigate. They found a crashed raptor near what appears to be a colonial exploration camp. No doubt Galactica destroyed the baseship and sent teams down. Dr. Mutello, our scientist on board, was in shock when he discovered the name of the planet inside of a large temple. The planet is Kobol. Crews from all the ships were shocked and amazed. Galactica found the home of our ancestors; the planet from which the 12 tribes started their journey with their technology that lasted for years, and we needed only one month to come back to it._

_Only a few habitable places were on the planet, along with many ruins of cities that nature has been covering over time. We mapped Kobol and its coordinates in the ships computer, and hopefully one day we can send an expedition to explore Kobol in more detail. After a few days, we continued our search for Galactica._

_We continued with our course, so far no Cylon presence has been detected. A few of what we believed to be abandoned and destroyed mobile tylium refineries on asteroids made by Cylons were found, but nothing more. Log out_

**Unity - Main drydock - observation deck**

Admiral Stryker watched the large dock in front of him where the flagship still lay in ruins. Hundreds of repair bots and engineers were crawling on Atlantis, removing destroyed parts and replacing them with new ones. The ship was looking better but still it would take a lot of work to have her back to 100% again. Other damaged ships were spread out over the various shipyards, being repaired and upgraded.

Only the Battlestar Polaris was on dock 4; the ship survived with moderate damage but more than half of her electrical systems were fried.

"Ah, I thought I'd find you here," Admiral Thorn said smiling, "don't worry, your ship will survive. I was wrong at first. She was damaged but the structural integrity's more or less intact; let's say she had luck this time."

"Well I hope she's lucky next time too," Admiral Stryker said.

"If the Cylons created a 250Mt nuke, do you think they will not make one even larger than that? I mean conventional missiles do damage but nukes are the ones that actually kill a ship," Admiral Thorn said.

"And we need new kinds of defenses; Thorn, your R&D department makes wonders and I don't want to rush them, but they need to find something to stop the Cylon's nuclear attacks. The main Cylon weapons are their raiders and their launching of missiles in swarm. We need to somehow eliminate this advantage of theirs," Admiral Stryker said.

"Well, with standard PD grids we will not get much better results; they overheat, especially if a battle lasts more than 15 minutes. But those new pulse cannons can do the trick or small anti-missile launchers that can launch dozens of missiles in one volley. Don't worry, after we finish repairing Atlantis we will put as many of these new systems on board," Admiral Thorn said.

"I don't like experimental technology," Admiral Stryker said.

"We don't have any other options. Theseus already has pulse cannon defenses against missiles and raiders. If it worked for her, then it will work with Atlantis, and we can eventually add this on every ship in the fleet to increase their defensive capability ten times over. And next time we can bring gunstars to the fight, it's their job to keep missiles and raiders off of the Battlestars in a battle," Admiral Thorn said.

"Probably, you're right, but the fleet is large, and we don't have enough ships to defend every spot of it. We need those gunstars and any other smaller ship to stay with the fleet," Admiral Stryker said.

"Oh, I almost forgot that we received communication from Commander Krasner on Invictus. I think you'll want to see it: it's encrypted so only you can see it," Admiral Thorn said.

A few minutes later, Admiral Stryker returned to his quarters and turned the computer monitor on. For security reasons; they didn't have direct transmission with Avalon. Recorded messages were sent from both sides. He entered his password and started watching the video. After watching the entire video; how they found out about the Arcadians, drones that the Arcadians called harvesters he thought: _So all that Athena said was true._ And he can't tell anyone about it, at least not yet.

A half hour later, Admirals Thorn and Sounders entered Admiral Stryker's quarters.

"Sit down please," Admiral Stryker said gesturing with his hand for them to sit.

"The last transmission was encoded and sent to me, personally, so you don't know anything about its content. The dead world that we encountered during our first journey to the Terminus sector once belonged to the 14th tribe of Kobol, and these people called themselves Arcadians..." Admiral Stryker started to say before being interrupted.

"Did you just say 14th tribe?" Admiral Sounders interrupted, shocked, and then continued, "We always believed that the 13th tribe was the last of the tribes and that it was merely a myth."

"Apparently not," Admiral Thorn said.

"I know that my next words will be hard to explain and understand but I want you to not interrupt me and to listen until the end please," Admiral Stryker said.

Both admirals nodded; seeing that this was very important.

"2 weeks after the battle of Picon I still had insomnia every night; I hardly slept, and when I finally got some sleep, I had a vision. I know this is hard to explain; but in this vision I encountered a woman, probably in her late 20s. She identified herself as Athena. She explained that her kind is known to us as Gods; they are a highly advanced and evolved race. They brought humans from a distant planet on the other side of the galaxy to the planet we called Kobol," Admiral Stryker said.

"I apologize for interruption sir, but is it possible that this is vision, is simply the result of stress and injuries?" Admiral Thorn asked with concern for Admiral Stryker's health.

"No, I must disagree. It was communication through a dream. She said that her people were also guided, as we were guided by her people, by an ancient race that was defeated by their enemies called the Purifiers; and those Purifiers were pure evil. Machines the Gods created to fight the Purifiers turned on them and escaped into the darkness of space after a large battle for their survival. Humans on Kobol slowly evolved under the guidance of Athena's people. But as humans slowly started to organize into factions or tribes, wars started. She said that the first tribe to leave Kobol was a tribe of scientists and engineers; the most brilliant of all 13 tribes that made up the 14th tribe. They called themselves Arcadians. They left long before the others. The planet with destroyed cities on it that we found was only a colony, destroyed by the harvesters.

Several millennia later, the 13th tribe left the planet. The 13th tribe was formed from the first Cylons created by Athena's people trying to improve upon humans, and later joined by convicts and outcasts from the other tribes. They departed in time when several of the largest tribes started a great war on Kobol. They settled the planet that they called Earth. They lived and prospered in peace for almost a full milennia and then one day they disappeared, with no more contact. They created their own Cylon centurions that annihilated them. Only five survived and started a long journey back to Kobol. A few decades later the main exodus started and the 12 remaining tribes all journeyed to the Cyrannus system. Those that survived from Earth finally arrived after back to Kobol, only to find it deserted, and the planet in ruins. They followed the trail of the 12 tribes and found the tribes engaged in their own war with their Centurions a decade into the first Cylon war, after 2000 years of the five travelling to find the colonies," Admiral Stryker said.

"Excuse me admiral, how did they live so long if they had to make a journey over 2000 years?" Admiral Sounders asked skeptically.

"Ah yes, a good question. You see, they created resurrection technology; the very same technology that the Cylons are using today. Each time their body started growing old and decayed; they simply downloaded their mind into a new, fresh, and young body. The Cylons stopped the war when the survivors from Earth offered them this technology and the chance to make them human bodies," Admiral Stryker said.

"Amazing, I still believe that you dreamed this admiral; it's too hard to believe," Admiral Thorn said.

"I know; I still don't believe it, but this is the truth. Those drones that we encountered; Dr. Aren said that he found scripts from the dead Arcadian colony showing that those are the harvesters," Admiral Stryker said.

"By the lords of Kobol, so we are actually entering a wasp's nest?" Admiral Sounders said rhetorically, afraid for the people of Avalon.

"I'm afraid we are. Once we get closer to Terminus, or to that part of the sector; all ships will go to blue mode, meaning minimal energy output from all ships," Admiral Stryker said.

"Sir, blue mode will slow us down by 50%," Admiral Thorn said anxiously.

"Yes, I know. But with ships as large as Unity and Eternity, plus Olympia and Hera's stations, huge amounts of energy are being emitted for the drones to pinpoint our location with. If what Commander Krasner said is true and these harvesters can track FTL, as well as energy outputs, then they can find and attack us. The Cylons will then be the least of our problems," Admiral Stryker said.

"Even if they find us; they can't have enough firepower to attack a fleet of this size," Admiral Thorn said shocked.

"I believe they do. Don't forget that more than half of the fleet is civilian ships with limited or no armor and armaments. We had luck the first time when we arrived. But now after we managed to jump Sanctuary back to Avalon; we must be on alert," Admiral Stryker said worriedly.

"If I may ask, what does Sanctuary have to do with the drones?" Admiral Sounders asked.

"When Warstar Sanctuary disappeared during her maiden voyage; she ended up in the Terminus sector. She was almost destroyed by multiple explosions of the engine. Luckily the anti-matter reactor didn't blow up or it would have vaporized the entire ship. However they lost lots of people and the ship was wrecked. And that's not all: they appeared in the wrong system. After they sent scouts around, the scouts were intercepted by these harvesters. They followed them back to Sanctuary, and after they got reinforcements they attacked the ship. Already damaged and battered, Sanctuary had no choice but to fire at this new menace. But she was eventually disabled and almost destroyed as more and more drone ships came to fight Sanctuary. After scanning and seeing that the ship was venting atmosphere and it was dead in space, the drones simply left. Once the drones noticed that Sancturay was no longer in her original space; they started scouting around to find her. They've been looking for some time now, and we have to be wary of the possibility of them finding Avalon if they keep looking. Eventually they might come across Avalon in the search for Santuary and since Sanctuary was overcome by the drones…" Admiral Stryker said, drifting off to leave an obvious conclusion.

"So in short; we now have two enemies, with the Cylons at our backs and the harvesters in front of us. And those purifiers wherever they are," Admiral Thorn stated.

"Yes. We found the wrong place to make a colony as the last free place where humanity can start over. But we have no choice but to continue as we have and we will be ready for what comes. Your improvements; Admiral Thorn, I want you to refit all our ships with them. Even the larger civilian ones; Unity and Eternity also need to get those new weapons. If we have a deadly enemy in front of us, then by the gods of Kobol we will be ready for them," Admiral Stryker said.

"And the fleet will be ready sir, I promise that," Admiral Thorn said.

"One more thing; Dr. Aren believes that they can copy some of the technology used by the harvesters. They salvaged one of the badly damaged drones. If they succeed, we may get ourselves some very powerful technology. That is all for now," Admiral Stryker said.

**Outside of the Cyrannus system - Cylon Mobile Shipyard**

Jack Cavil stood and watched the new Adonis class Baseship; half constructed, it was only one of five Adonis Baseships in construction. All other Cylons in the command room of the secondary command Baseship looked at the same thing.

"Now that is the class that will beat the Colonials," Jack Cavil said.

"Are you sure?" one of the number two's asked, "It is well armed but it's slightly smaller than a standard Baseship."

"Size doesn't matter; the weapons and defenses she carries will be more than enough to take on the colonials," Jack said confidently.

"I admit it looks perfect, but it is nothing compared to the dreadstar," Gary Doral said.

"You and your precious dreadstar; which is such an incredible piece of technology that it breaks after each and every jump it makes," Jack said sarcastically, sneering at Gary.

"For a ship of that size, it's normal to expect some bugs and problems," Gary said, protesting Jack's condemnation of the dreadstar.

"Yes, but that ship has so many of them. Every day some new bug appears. But no one can say there's a problem with it launching systems," Jack said, looking at Gary angrily and thinking about the destruction of Caprica; which he still hadn't forgiven Gary for. Then he continued with an even more angry tone in his voice, "Your ship was broken at the time of the attack on Picon; we lost our foothold there. Luckily there are still ten colonies and lots of moons. And then we have Janice and her failures. Her entire battlegroup was destroyed by Prometheus and her escorts. When I think about it: she lost more than half of her ships in suicidal raptor attacks and tricks. I should simply box her forever."

"And yet you gave her another chance after her failure with Prometheus," one of the number sixes said.

"Well what else could I do? We are lacking good commanders and she may be a pain in the ass that seems to love losing ships, but still she is one of our rare commanders we have that has been good at fighting the colonials, at least in some ways. And this is her last chance," Jack said.

"Tell me brother, if you want to find Prometheus and her escorts after what they did to her battlegroup, do you plan to send more ships?" Gary Doral asked.

"Yes and guess who is going to go after them? You," Jack Cavil said.

"What! No way, my place is here protecting the shipyards," Gary protested.

"I cannot send Janice again, and risk her to losing more ships. You may be an idiot, but you are a much better choice for the mission. You will take the damn Dreadstar and two dozen baseships and get your ass over there. Find and destroy Prometheus," Jack said.

"And what if I fail to find it? If we can't track them, then what?" Gary asked.

"I will give you one year to do this. Search every nebula, and asteroid belt. If you don't find them then you will come back. No, now that I think about it; don't even return if you don't find them. Do yourself a favor and crash yourself and your damned ship into something. But please try to at least find and destroy that ship. If you can't deal with the entire Prometheus fleet then just destroy the Prometheus itself if you can," Jack said.

"Ok brother, I will do it, if only to show you why I ordered construction of the dreadstar and what it can do. I will find and destroy Prometheus; I will even bring you a part of her hull as evidence," Gray Doral said.

"Good," Jack Cavil said.

Gary Doral left the room in a fury. He hated that he had to bring his precious ship on such a dangerous mission. But in the end, the Nova class Battlestar is a dangerous enemy and to make things worse, there were two of them. If he destroyed them, then his arrogant brother would have to start appreciating him more.

"Do you think he will succeed in this mission?" one of the present Cylons in the room asked.

"Admiral Turner has had luck so far, but if the dreadstar is worth anything except for destroying planets, then his forces will be crushed fast and swiftly. And if we are particularly lucky, Gary and his ship will be blown to pieces," Jack Cavil said, thinking about never seeing Gary Doral again. This made him smile widely.

"You don't want him to succeed?" the only number eight in the room asked.

"Oh, I want him to succeed and destroy Prometheus, but I also want to get rid of him for some time or if possible, indefinitely. Now I want all work on the Adonis class Baseships to be sped up. And set construction for another five on all remaining free docks," Jack Cavil said.

"But in addition to those ships we have 12 additional standard basestars to build with new specifications, and there are only two free docks for buildup, plus we're slowly lacking on materials," one of the number sixes said, protesting Jacks plan to build only the new Basestars; even if it meant removing other ships from the shipyards to do it.

"I don't want excuses, get the refineries and mining belts and start to mine more tylium and other materials that we need. And what are our current straight in ships?" Jack asked, ignoring the six and all other looks of protest from the other Cylons.

One of the number fours came closer and started reading off a report of the Cylon fleet's current strength.

"The current strength of our fleet is as follows; 55 standard basestars, 25 Patrolstars, 17 support ships, 3 heavy baseships, 1 resurrection ship, 1 Command basestar and one dreadstar. Units in construction on our shipyard include; 5 new Adonis class basestars and 12 standard baseships," the number four said.

"Minus 1 dreadstar and the 2 dozen baseships Gary will take in his search for Prometheus, plus the last resurrection ship that he will take with him, what do we have to replace their numbers in terms of older ships?" Jack Cavil asked.

"Old ships?" the number four asked in confusion.

"Hades class baseships?" Jack asked impatiently.

"There are 32 inactive Hades Mk I and 10 Mk II class Basestars," Number Four reported.

"Good; I want those ships reactivated, manned, and upgraded with modern weaponry. Since an upgrade of their armor would cost us too much time we will skip it, but don't forget to upgrade the FTL engines as well," Jack said.

"But Jack, without new armor those ships would not stand a chance against the modern colonial Battlestars," a Number Six said worriedly.

"What battlestars? The majority were destroyed, Stryker's forces are on the run back to their little colony, Galactica is moving away in the Promar sector as is Pegasus, and the Prometheus will soon have company so I doubt there is any danger for now. What about Picon, do we have any forces there?" Jack Cavil asked.

"There are a few small garrisons on the planet, but they are being destroyed one by one by the colonial defenders. Two Patrolstars and a baseship that tried to attack were quickly destroyed by the defense grid, and our raiders were destroyed by the smaller anti-fighter defense platforms combined with their Viper squadrons," reported one of the twos.

"I didn't know they had any fighters there?" Jack Cavil said angrily, his eyes narrowing.

"They do, with 6,000 marines along with the remaining defenders to guard and protect the civilians," a number two said.

"Our first task then is to retake Picon if possible, but this time we will not rush things along," Jack Cavil said thoughtfully.

"As you command," the number two said.

"And one last thing, what about our spy in Stryker's fleet?" Jack asked.

"Our patrolstar is still following the fleet, at a safe distance, and they are receiving coded transmission every day. As the fleets so large and since there is a lot of chatting going on between the ships, they will never be able to pick our signal," a number six said confidently.

"Good," Jack Cavil said.

"Why send only one small patrolstar instead of the fleet?" the number 8, the only one of her model in the room, asked.

"I would love to send everything there and annihilate them, but it would be a risky mission. No, we will give them some alone time for now while they lead us to their colony. We will rebuild our forces and then with one strike; they will be destroyed," Jack Cavil said confidently, and also a little smugly.

"But we are only giving them more time to recover and strengthen their defenses around that colony. They have excellent capabilities for the production of ships and other resources they need. It might be much harder to attack them if we wait," one of the number fours said.

"Maybe not, I have plans for them and we will not rush as John and I did in the past. We will work slowly this time to ensure that we destroy the humans once and for all," Jack Cavil said.

**Day 159 since the Fall of the Colonies**

**Battlestar Galactica, Commander Adama's quarters**

"Our computers have been infected by a Cylon virus, corrupting systems throughout the entire ship. I've just been notified that this is a prelude to an all-out attack by the Cylons," Commander Adama said.

"I assume you've tried to disable it," President Roslin said.

"Mr. Gaeta and the Vice President are handling that right now. I'm not hopeful," Commander Adama said.

"Commander, I'm not sure what I can offer you here besides my moral support," President Roslin said.

"Actually, Madam President, I could use your advice. I've just come from seeing our Cylon prisoner. She's offering a possible solution to the problem," Commander Adama said.

"And you're wondering if you can trust her," President Roslin said.

"It took everything I had not to put my hands around her throat. I can't believe I'm contemplating this," Commander Adama said.

"We both know the Cylons are experts at manipulation. They will do anything to confuse you," President Roslin said.

"This is not the one who shot me," Commander Adama said.

"Can they really be that different from one another? Commander, if you're asking me if it's possible that your judgment's been clouded by your history with this particular Cylon model, well, I'd have to say yes. But... we created them. There's always a chance we might find common ground," President Roslin said.

**Less than an hour later…**

**Battlestar Galactica C.I.C. **

Sharon/Eight was led chained into the CIC under heavy guard.

"We need to work quickly. We're on borrowed time," Sharon said.

"Let her go," Commander Adama said, and Sharon's shackles were unlocked and released from the marine guard who backed away, freeing her to move around.

"Dee, do you still carry your father's pocket knife?" Sharon asked.

Dee/Dualla looked incredulously at Commander Adama.

"Give it to her," Commander Adama said, and Dualla unhappily handed her pocket knife to Sharon

"Mr. Gaeta, can you set me up with a fiber-optic com link? I need broadcast to all frequencies and direct link to the mainframe," Sharon said.

"Do it," Commander Adama said.

"Sir. Right here, Sharon," Lieutenant Gaeta said, handing Sharon the cable she needed.

"Thanks," Sharon said.

Several hundred raiders and heavy raiders jumped near the Galactica.

"Dradis. Here they come, multiple targets. Bearing 371, carom 552. Cylon raiders," Lieutenant Gaeta said.

"Bastards tracked us, all right," Colonel Tigh said.

"Launch vipers," Commander Adama said.

All of Galactica's vipers were quickly launched and faced the raiders, which had stopped in their tracks as if waiting for something.

"Apollo, the raiders are holding position," Lieutenant Brendan _Hotdog _Costanza said.

"Galactica, Apollo. Raiders are holding formation. Repeat, raiders are holding formation," Captain Lee _Apollo_ Adama said.

The raiders formed a tight fence like formation and held their position.

**Galactica CIC**

"What the hell," Colonel Tigh said.

"Okay, this is how it's going to work. The raiders are going to send a signal to activate the virus. It could take a few seconds. On my mark, initiate the computer wipe. Miss the window…" Sharon said trailing off.

"The virus takes over every system in the ship," Lieutenant Gaeta said.

"Yeah. Sometimes you gotta roll the hard six. Right, commander?" Sharon asked looking over at Commander Adama.

Sharon cut her hand with Dee's knife and inserted the fiber optic cable deep into the wound and up her arm.

"What the hell is she doing?" Colonel Tigh asked incredulously.

"They've made contact, sir," Dualla said.

"It's moving too fast; I can't follow it," Lieutenant Gaeta said.

"We gotta stop this," Colonel Tigh said, facing Commander Adama.

"Stand by to execute computer wipe on my command," Commander Adama said.

"Systems ready, sir," Lieutenant Gaeta said.

"Wipe the hard drives now," Sharon said.

"Do it," Commander Adama said.

The lights in CIC flickered and power went offline to all computer systems for a few moments.

"Weapons are still offline. No dradis. Systems down. We're looking at a gods damned bloodbath. We're defenseless," Colonel Tigh said angrily.

"Apollo, Hotdog. Here they come!" _Hotdog_ said.

"All right, copy, Hotdog," _Apollo_ said.

"Gods, there must be hundreds of them," Lieutenant Tucker _Duck_ Clellan said.

"Cylons are still moving in. She set us up!" Colonel Tigh yelled angrily a few moments after the computer wipe, all weapons systems were still down.

"Give me your sidearm," Commander Adama said.

"Sir," one of the marines said, taking out his sidearm handgun and handing it to Commander Adama.

"If they're coming for you, they're going to be very disappointed," Commander Adama said.

Commander Adama held up the gun to Sharon's head.

"Do it. What are you waiting for?" Colonel Tigh said.

"This," Sharon said.

All of the Galactica's systems came back online. The raiders all went offline and start drifting out of control, some hitting other raiders and receiving and dealing heavy damage.

"What the hell?" Colonel Tigh said.

"We just transmitted a signal," Lieutenant Gaeta said.

"Uh, Galactica? They-they seem to have lost power. They're drifting out of control!" _Apollo_ said.

"What the hell?" Colonel Tigh said.

"The Cylons sent us a computer virus, we just sent one back," Commander Adama said.

"Apollo, this is Galactica. Kill the bastards," Colonel Tigh said.

"Yeah! Come on, baby," _Duck_ said.

"Roger that. Vipers, weapons free. Engage. This-this is payback," _Apollo_ said.

They started blowing the Cylons to hell, fish in a barrel style.

"Whoo-hoo-hoo-hoo-hoo-hoo!" _Duck_ said .

"Whoo!" _Hotdog_ said.

"Yeah! How do you like that? You seeing this? Got this toaster padlocked. Come on! I got another where that one came from!" _Duck_ said laughing.

"Guys, clean 'em up! Come on; let's go,"_ Starbuck_ said.

"Officers," Commander Adama said addressing the marines guarding Sharon.

"Yes sir," a marine said.

"Take her back to her cell," Commander Adama said looking at Sharon gratefully, a small smile on his face.

**2 and a half months since Vanguard and her fleet left the main fleet, Day 175 since the original Cylon attack.**

**Unknown system - Promar sector**

**Battlestar Galactica C.I.C.**

Battlestar Galactica and her fleet were slowly cruising through space, passing a small asteroid belt.

"Action stations, action stations. Set condition one throughout the ship, this is not a drill. Repeat. Action stations, action stations. Set condition one throughout the ship, this is not a drill," Lieutenant Gaeta said over the comms system shipwide.

"This is the Commander, sitrep," Commander Adama said into the comm link in his quarters.

"Sir, a bogie just showed up on dradis, CBDR. From the size of it, it's probably a Cylon baseship, CAPs on its way to intercept," Colonel Tigh said.

"Alert the fleet for emergency jump, I'm on my way with the President," Commander Adama said.

"Galactica Apollo, I'm outbound on approach to the basestar, Kat alongside me, I estimate one minute till intercept," _Apollo_ said.

"Roger that Apollo. Be advised alert fighters have launched and will take station on your six in three minutes," Dualla said.

"Sitrep," Commander Adama said as he and the president entered CIC.

"We've launched alert fighters," Colonel Tigh said.

"New dradis contacts. They're launching raiders," Lieutenant Gaeta said.

"How long till we jump?" Preseidnt Roslin asked.

"Another two minutes," Colonel Tigh said worriedly.

"Sir. Sir, I'm getting colonial transponders," Lieutenant Gaeta said uncertainly.

"Colonial?" President Roslin said.

"Well, now they're using our own signals against us," Colonel Tigh said.

"Maybe. Weapons hold, hold the jump too," Command Adama said, as Colonel Tigh looked at him incredulously.

"Something up your sleeve I take it?" President Roslin asked.

"All ships Galactica, hold jump. I say again, hold jump," Dualla said.

"Ship to ship, Colonial priority one channel. Send hostile challenge and ID. Push the reply up to speakers," Commander Adama said looking at Dualla.

"Attention unknown vessel, this is the Battlestar Galactica. Identify yourself or we will fire upon you," Dualla said.

"Range now 1700 sir," Lieutenant Gaeta said.

Static was heard over the speakers as a response came through, "This is the Battlestar Pegasus to the ship claiming to be the Galactica, please respond."

"Pegasus? How can that be, the entire fleet was destroyed," Colonel Tigh said in disbelief.

"Get me direct contact," Commander Adama said to Dualla and picked up the comm link from the CIC main desk.

"Pegasus, this is Galactica Actual. Authenticate identity with recognition codes immediately," Commander Adama said.

"Sir, I'm receiving colonial recognition codes. They're authentic," Dualla said.

"Galactica, this is Pegasus Actual. Adama is that you?" Admiral Cain asked.

"Admiral Cain. It's a pleasure to hear your voice," Commander Adama said.

"Commander, I don't know what to say. This is a miracle," Admiral Cain said.

"You took the words right out of my mouth," Commander Adama said, then turned to Dualla and said "step down to condition two throughout the fleet."

A cheer of joy spread all around C.I.C.; another colonial ship had survived the Cylon attack.

"Galactica Apollo, you are not going to believe what I'm looking at. It's like a dream,"_ Apollo_ said laughing.

"Who would of thought," Colonel Tigh said, "of all ships that the Pegasus could have survived."

"Well even with Cain, now we have a second Battlestar with the fleet. Prepare the flight deck for Admiral Cain's arrival onboard the ship," Commander Adama said.

**Battlestar Vanguard C.I.C 38 hours later**

"Sir one of our stealthstars found this," Colonel Magene said, turning pictures that the stealthstar had taken over to the Commander, "we have positive identifications on two baseships and one resurrection ship."

"And they're in front of our path to the fleet's likely location?" Commander Belzen asked.

"Yes sir, it appears they're following something from their jump path, and I'd bet they're following Galactica," Colonel Magene said.

"Hmmm, but where is the colony and the rest of the fleet? This can't be their entire fleet chasing Galactica," Commander Belzen said.

"They're probably lurking somewhere off the road if I may say so. It's possible they've divided into various smaller fleets to try and locate Galactica's exact position," Colonel Magene said, "waiting until the times right to attack Galactica again."

"So these ships are following Galactica; and let's say they are following her, then that would mean that she really can't be too far from here," Commander Belzen said excitedly.

"I can't say with a 100% chance that they are, but I believe they are following and closing in on Galactica's fleet. Shall I send the stealthstar forward to try and track their position down?" Colonel Magene asked.

"Yes, do so. And we will do something as well; set all ships to condition one," Commander Belzen said grinning widely in anticipation.

"If I may ask, what do you plan on us doing?" Colonel Magene asked curiously, raising an eyebrow at the Commander's sudden shift in mood.

"Colonel, we're about to attack those Cylon ships," Commander Belzen replied simply, smiling widely.

"But sir, the Admiral gave us a direct order to avoid contact with the Cylons as long as possible," Colonel Magene said, protesting the Commander's plan.

"Well we don't have a choice; they are right in front of us, blocking the path to Galactica," Commander Belzen said smiling wider, "and after all, I think the Admiral will be glad that we kicked some toasters ass on the way."

"Aye sir," Colonel Magene said, and then sighed in defeat.

**Colonial One - Presidential Office**

"Let's start by admitting an ugly truth. What happened out there is a result of a failure in leadership of everyone in this room. We are the leaders of this fleet. As such we need to set an example. We cannot continue to let the conflicts between us…" President Roslin said before being interrupted, looking down at Admiral Cain and Commander Adama sitting in the plush chairs before her desk.

"Ok, let's just cut through the hand holding shall we? Two of his men murdered one of my officers while protecting a Cylon. They're guilty, they admitted it. And under regulations, I have complete authority to try, convict, and sentence them. And you and I both know that the penalty for that crime is death," Admiral Cain interrupted angrily.

"Admiral, surely the spirit of the law requires something more here than summary executions," President Roslin said.

"Is this what the two of you have been doing for the past six months? Debating the finer points of colonial law? Well guess what, we're at war. And we don't have the luxury of academic debate over these issues," Admiral Cain said angrily and incredulous at Roslin's response.

"You wanna cut through it, fine. You have Pegasus, he has Galactica. Two heavily armed and powerful warships. Now, I am sure that Pegasus would prevail in any fight," President Roslin said.

"I wouldn't count on that," Commander Adama interrupted.

President Roslin exhaled in exasperation before continuing, "But, certainly there would be heavy damage and you would take significant casualties. So you can go out there and fight it out with Galactica, or you can compromise. And those are the only two options on the table. Period."

"How the two of you survived this long, I will never know," Admiral Cain said in exasperation glaring at Adama, "alright. Lieutenant Thrace has sent me detailed recon information on the Cylon fleet. I want that fleet, and I need Galactica to get it. So, I am willing to go this far. I will suspend the executions until after the attack."

"I want them back on Galactica," Commander Adama said.

"I don't give a damn what you want. You are fracking lucky you're not staring at your own warrant," Admiral Cain said.

"The destruction of the Cylon fleet will take priority over all other considerations. After that, we will meet back here and we will resolve this issue. Thank you," President Roslin said and Admiral Cain quickly left.

President Roslin sat down in a plush chair next to Adama, "I'm afraid this can only end one way. You gotta kill her."

Commander Adama looked at President Roslin incredulously, "What the hell are you talking about?"

"Like she said, let's cut through it. The two of you, were willing to go to war today. Do you think she's going to step down from that? She's going to bide her time, and hit you the first time she gets. That's a given. I hate to lay this on you Bill, but she's dangerous. The only thing you can do is to hit her before she hits you," President Roslin said.

"I'm not an assassin," Commander Adama said.

"No. You are a colonial officer, who has taken an oath to protect this fleet. What do you think she is going to do with the civilian fleet once she has eliminated you? You know I'm right, you just don't want to face it," President Roslin said.

"Has the whole world gone mad?" Commander Adama said rhetorically as he quietly got up and left Colonial One.

**Battlestar Vanguard C.I.C.**

"All set sir; fighters are ready, Stealthstar 02 and 03 ready, and they will jump a few seconds before us to attack and disable the resurrection ship," Colonel Magene reported.

"Good, tell the stealthstars good hunting," Commander Belzen said.

After a few moments, two stealthstars moved away from the fleet and jumped to the location of the Cylon ships.

"Birds away, 40 seconds until our jump," Colonel Magene said.

"Well that's it then. To all ships: Vanguard and Chimera will attack the baseships, Valkyrie is to concentrate on the Resurrection ship. Squadrons Alpha and Gamma will stay with the tylium tanker and support ship," Commander Belzen said.

"10 seconds and counting; 9, 8, 7, 6, 5, 4, 3, 2, 1, jump," Colonel Magene said.

All three Battlestars disappeared in a bright flash of light.

**Battlestar Vanguard C.I.C.**

"Jump completed sir," Colonel Magene reported.

"Good, tell Chimera to concentrate on Baseship Alpha, we will take Baseship Beta. Valkyrie is to take on the Resurrection ship, she's dead in the water," Commander Belzen said looking at the readouts form the Cylon fleet that confirmed that the stealthstars had successfully taken out the engines on the resurrection ship.

"Thank the gods, the stealthstars succeeded," Colonel Magene said.

"Yes, now let's bring the fight to the Cylons shall we?" Commander Belzen said rhetorically.

The two Mercury class Battlestars started hurling towards the escorting Baseships while firing their cannons at them. The Valkyrie passed near them and started rushing toward the Resurrection ship. It was not long before an intensive exchange of fire started between the ships, with the colonial ships having the edge.

A few long minutes after the fight started, Vanguard crippled its target and with several final shots finally destroyed the baseship. Chimera was in the same position and quickly finished off the damaged baseship she was fighting. Valkyrie arrived in range of her target; firing her main cannons on the Resurrection ship and firing a large amount of anti-ship missiles at the Cylons. It didn't take long before the Resurrection ship exploded along with many surrounding raiders.

Starbuck returned to the Cylon fleet's location in the blackbird stealthstar in a second recon mission, saw the colonial fleet attacking the Cylons and then quickly jumped back to Galactica to report on what was going on.

**Vanguard C.I.C.**

"Sir, all targets destroyed; several surviving raiders and two heavy raiders escaped," Colonel Magene reported.

"Our status?" Commander Belzen asked.

"27 vipers lost, only 5 survivors found. Several more vipers were crippled and we're towing those in now. Minor damage to sections 23, 25, and 27, and one nuke hit section 40 with a low yield causing moderate damage. Chimera reports minimal damage. Valkyrie survived without a scratch," Colonel Magene reported proudly.

"Excellent," Commander Belzen said.

"Sir, a few moments ago; we detected a small FTL jump 25km off our left starboard section, it appeared to be a small ship," the dradis officer reported.

"Cylon?" Commander Belzen asked.

"Don't think so, sir, I think it was some kind of stealthstar," the dradis officer replied.

"So the Galactica sent a stealthstar to spy on the Cylons," Colonel Magene said.

"Probably, can you triangulate the position where the stealthstar jumped?" Commander Belzen asked.

"I believe I can sir," the dradis officer said.

"Good, Colonel; send a raptor to our support ships and tell the fighters to attach themselves to the ships and then jump here," Commander Belzen ordered.

"Aye sir," Colonel Magene replied.

**Battlestar Galactica C.I.C.**

"Sir, a ship just jumped in, it's Starbuck," Specialist Dualla said.

"Already, she can't have finished the mission so fast," Colonel Tigh said in disbelief.

"Patch her through and be sure the Pegasus hears us as well," Commander Adama said to specialist Dualla.

"Aye sir, patching in now," Specialist Dualla said.

"Starbuck are you there?" Commander Adama asked.

"Yes sir," Starbuck replied.

"Did you finish the mission?" Commander Adama asked.

"Sir, you won't believe me when I say this, but the Cylon fleet just got its ass kicked by three Colonial Battlestars," Starbuck said.

"What?" Commander Adama said shocked, "Starbuck explain?"

Both Admiral Cain and Commander Adama were shocked. The C.I.C of both ships were silent as they waited for the next words coming from Starbuck.

"I jumped directly to the enemy fleet's coordinates, but before I even started my mission I was in the middle of a fight. My stealth systems were engaged and nobody detected me, I think. But I saw two Mercury class Battlestars and one Valkyrie fighting with the Cylons. The mercuries concentrated on the Baseships while the Valkyrie engaged the Resurrection ship," Starbuck said quickly.

"Did you identify the ships?" Admiral Cain asked.

"Sorry Admiral, I didn't, I was in shock and I didn't want to compromise my safety," Starbuck replied.

"More colonial ships survived," Commander Adama said, "How is that possible?"

"I don't know commander, but I know what I saw; Colonial ships just kicked the Cylons' asses hard," Starbuck said.

**Battlestar Vanguard C.I.C.**

"Sir, the support ships just jumped in," Colonel Magene said.

"Good; prepare all ships to jump to coordinates .3.11.4. Let's hope this is where Galactica is," Commander Belzen said.

"All ships ready sir," Colonel Magene said, "Jump in 5, 4, 3, 2, 1, now."

All five ships disappeared in a big white flash.

**To be continued...**

**Note:**

Rahnas* - Colonial Version of Earth Piranhas.


	15. 2x03 Inter Arma Enim Silent Leges Pt2

Inter Arma Enim Silent Leges (In times of war, the laws falls silent)

Battlestar Galactica C.I.C.

"Sir five ships just jumped in; they're almost on top of us," the dradis officer reported.

"Who are they, Cylons or Colonials?" Commander Adama asked.

"One moment sir... they are colonial," the dradis officer replied.

"Put up a visual," Commander Adama ordered.

On one of the screens, five ships appeared. The entire C.I.C saw two Mercury and one Valkyrie class Battlestars, as well as two smaller support ships; a tylium tanker and a supply ship.

"Those are definitely colonial," Colonel Tigh confirmed.

"Sir, the lead ship is sending its IFF to us and to Pegasus. The other ships are doing the same; it's the Battlestars Vanguard, Chimera, and Valkyrie, as well as the support ship Trench and tylium tanker Akimba Maru," Specialist Dualla reported.

"Valkyrie, what the hell is she doing here? No a better question is how the frak she survived when she was in orbit of Caprica at the time of attack?" Colonel Tigh asked surprised, both he and Commander Adama had served on the Valkyrie. Especially during the infamous mission six years before the Cylon attack near the armistice line of Cylon space.

"I believe that's unimportant at the moment," Commander Adama said.

"Sir, the Vanguard is hailing us," Dualla said.

"Put them through on speakers," Commander Adama ordered.

For several seconds there was silence and then...

"To Battlestar Galactica, this is Commander Jurgen Belzen from the Battlestar Vanguard. Do you copy?"

"Loud and clear commander, we're surprised by your sudden appearance since we believed that the entire fleet was destroyed," Commander Adama said.

"I understand Commander, can I board your ship? We have lots to talk about, and if I may make a request; I would ask that Admiral Cain and President Roslin also be present on Galactica," Commander Belzen said.

"Of course commander, we are looking forward..." Commander Adama started to say before being interrupted.

"Then in 15 minutes," Commander Belzen interrupted Commander Adama, and then the line between the ships communications was cut.

"Send messages to President Roslin and Admiral Cain; tell them that they are needed in the conference room onboard Galactica," Commander Adama said to Specialist Dualla.

10 minutes later on Galactica...

"Belzen, that can't be, he was killed. Pegasus' XO Colonel Fisk said that Cain left him in a broken Raptor to slowly die in space," Colonel Tigh said while walking with Adama to the corridors that lead to the conference room.

"It appears he's alive, or do you think he was replaced by Cylons and is actually their agent?" Commander Adama asked in response.

"No, but this is hard to believe; in just under two days four Battlestars show up. Little strange don't you think?" Colonel Tigh asked suspiciously.

"It is, but let's see how this goes first; we don't want to make the mistake as we did with Cain," Commander Adama said.

Several minutes later; Admiral Cain, President Roslin, Colonel Fisk, Commander Adama, Colonel Tigh, Captain Adama, and Lieutenant Thrace were all present in the conference room. This time there were no preparations made, as there were for Admiral Cain's arrival.

"So who the hell is in charge of that fleet, and why didn't I speak with whoever it is?" Admiral Cain asked annoyed.

"Vanguard contacted Galactica, not Pegasus Admiral. And I believe you will see for yourself in a few minutes. I was just informed that the Commander's Raptor landed. He will be here in a few moments," Commander Adama replied.

"Do you know the Commander of the Vanguard?" President Roslin asked.

"No, but I believe Admiral Cain does," Commander Adama said, at which Admiral Cain gave him a perplexed and confused look.

The doors opened and Commander Belzen and Commander Hastings entered the room. Of course Fisk and Cain seemed to become paralyzed after seeing Commander Belzen. To their knowledge, he was supposed to be dead. Without even looking at the Admiral, Commander Belzen came closer and raised his hand to Adama who quickly followed suit. After shaking hands, Commander Adama presented Commander Belzen with President Roslin.

"I am glad to meet you Madam President," Commander Belzen said, "Ah I see Admiral Cain and Colonel Fisk. You sure got my position fast, didn't you Jack?"

"You know each other?" President Roslin asked.

"Of course, I was XO on the Pegasus during the Cylon attack," Commander Belzen replied.

"They said that the Admiral put you in a broken Raptor and left you die, because you disobeyed a direct order?" Commander Adama asked while watching Admiral Cain, there was red on her face and she was furious.

"It is custom to salute a superior officer Commander," Admiral Cain said coldly.

"I won't salute you admiral. Not after what you have done to me and to those ships you left behind; stripping them from everything useful and leaving them to die, and not to mention after ordering the killing of innocent family members of those who refused to join your crew. Oh, don't look at me that way; you know very well what I'm talking about. And how do I know? We were able to save a few survivors from a ship that managed to jump away before you stripped the Scylla's fleet of their FTL drives and they told us everything about what happened," Commander Belzen said.

"How did you survive?" Colonel Fisk asked.

"One of the marines smuggled food and water on the Raptor and a basic repair kit. I repaired the thruster control and had enough power and air to get to the nearest fleet depot. I landed on one of the ships there and shared my resources. I was finally saved by one of the search parties from Olympia station who scavenged the depot," Commander Belzen said.

"There are more survivors back home?" Commander Adama asked.

"The Cylons jammed the entire system; so it's no wonder you didn't get all the messages, but yes there were many ships that survived the attack. Admiral Thorn on Olympia station, Admiral Stryker from Battlestar Atlantis, you commander and the Pegasus, and we believe the Nova class Battlestar Prometheus and her escorts are out in space at the Copernicus colony they were colonizing just before the Cylon attack," Commander Belzen said.

"Stryker? Mark Stryker? That rat, he was a Commander last time I saw him," Admiral Cain said, "Since when did he become an Admiral?"

"Stryker was in charge of a mission to the Terminus sector in order to create a secret colony in case of a Cylon attack, though nobody knew that the Cylons would actually attack us and much sooner than the Admiralty thought possible at the time. During the battle of Virgon; Admiral Nagala sent a last message to Stryker promoting him to the rank of Admiral, with orders to bring all survivors back to the colony now known as Avalon as part of Operation Exodus," Commander Belzen said.

"Operation Exodus, I've never heard of that?" Commander Adama said.

"Of course commander; only Fleet Admiral Torres, and several Admirals in the fleet knew about it. The whole plan was in preparation for almost 20 years. Many ships that should have been retired and scrapped stayed active or in reserve. Several facilities were made or kept active especially for the plan in case of an attack; like super large mobile shipyards called Unity and Eternity, Olympia station, and even the Hera station. After some time, Admiral Stryker was promoted to Fleet Admiral. Which means Admiral, you are taking orders from him now," Commander Belzen said looking at Admiral Cain.

"I don't think so," Admiral Cain said arrogantly.

Ignoring her last statement, Belzen continued, "there were lots of ships; military and civilian that survived, and are now on their way to Avalon."

"How many military ships and civilians?" Commander Adama asked.

"Right now; 23 Battlestars, with half of those that were taken from depots, upgraded, and manned. Two were unfortunately lost during the last battle at Picon, but we also reclaimed a lot of captured warships and salvageable military ships that could bolster our numbers once repaired. There's also 2 Warstars, lots of gunstars, firestars and several other types of warships. In total; I believe we have well over 100 military ships. There are also several mobile shipyards/docks, and almost 3 million survivors," Commander Belzen said.

Everyone in the room went very quiet after those last words.

"Plus we secured Picon, and there was still about a million people guarded by the entire defense grid plus several newly installed anti-ship cannons on the ground and over 6000 marines we left behind. Unfortunately Caprica was destroyed," Commander Belzen said.

"What do you mean destroyed?" Colonel Tigh asked perplexed.

"During the evacuation of Caprica we were joined by the 11th Marine expeditionary division under command of General Conrad William, who were on the outskirts of the Cyrannus system hunting pirates and completing military exercises. Shortly after their arrival a large amount of baseships, around 40-50, and one large ship that we call the dreadstar joined in and started firing an enormous swarm of missiles. We escaped, but the missiles struck Caprica. More than half were nuclear and some were even 250Mt. After the bombardment, they must have triggered some of Caprica's volcanoes and in a short time, Caprica became a molten rock," Commander Belzen said.

"You said there was an evacuation from Caprica, did you get the resistance movement there off the planet?" Lieutenant Kara _Starbuck_ Thrace asked.

"Yes Lieutenant, we evacuated the military division led by General O'Reilly and a resistance movement in the mountains led by Samuel Anders and the rest of the Caprica Buccaneers off of Caprica," Commander Belzen said and continued with his story.

Everyone in the room quietly listened to the story. After almost an hour of telling them all that he knew, Commander Adama was the first to speak to Commander Belzen.

"So Fleet Admiral Stryker sent your fleet to find us?" Commander Adama asked.

"Yes, and to bring you back to Avalon. I know that Picon in the Cryannus system is still under colonial forces control, but sooner or later the Cylons will find a way to conquer it again. And also you are being followed by at least 50 baseships, the Resurrection hub, and their Colony ship," Commander Belzen said.

"Resurrection hub, didn't your ship destroy that one?" Colonel Tigh asked.

"That was a Resurrection ship. The hub is actually the center of all other Resurrection ships that are usually connected to her. In case of losing a Resurrection ship the hub becomes the primary Resurrection ship in a fleet since the Colony does not have Resurrection technology," Commander Belzen said.

"And you said Commander Turner also survived?" Commander Adama asked.

"From what we know from tapping into Cylon communications; he was also promoted, and he's an Admiral now. Which leads me to the next part of my mission; Admiral Cain, due to your incompetence, you are demoted from Admiral to Commander. These are written orders from Fleet Admiral Stryker, signed by him and Admirals Sounders and Thorn. You are also sentenced to the brig until you face a trial for your crimes," Commander Belzen said.

"What the frak are you talking about? You can't do this, and he's not here. Everything I've done was all for survival," Admiral Cain said angrily, not knowing what else to say.

"No, it was your vengeance. You wanted to wage a war with one ship. Tell me how the attack on that staging ground passed. I bet you lost the majority of your fighters during the assault. Marines!" Commander Belzen yelled.

Two marines of the four that arrived with Comander Belzen entered and, after being gestured to by the Commander they apprehended Cain.

"You can't do this; I am the flag officer of this fleet!" Cain yelled.

"Not anymore," Commander Belzen replied with a smile.

President Roslin, Commander Adama and Colonel Tigh were in shock after this little scene, a demonstration that whoever this Stryker is he meant serious business.

"Ah yes, I almost forgot," Commander Belzen said taking out a box and written orders by Admiral Stryker, "by order of Fleet Admiral Stryker; to Commander Adama, for you Admiral Adama," and as he said that he gave the Admiral rank insignia to a surprised Commander Adama.

"But why?" Commander Adama asked shocked, it was the only thing he could think to say.

"Admiral Stryker has a high opinion of you sir. And you are a better choice for Admiral than Cain would ever be. These are yours Admiral," Commander Belzen said.

After a moment of silence, Colonel Tigh was the first to congratulate the new admiral.

"Well you earned them and you finally got them, thank the lords of Kobol," Colonel Tigh said.

"Congratulations, Admiral," President Roslin said smiling, "you earned it."

"I waited a long time for this; I think we will need to do a press conference about this and the arrival of the new ships in our fleet," Admiral Adama said, "Commander are there any more orders from Fleet Admiral Stryker for us?" Admiral Adama asked looking back at Commander Belzen.

"Yes sir, only one; to return to Avalon. We will escort you back home sir," Commander Belzen said smiling.

"What about our search for Earth? The 13th tribe?" President Roslin asked looking at Admiral Adama uncertainly.

"Madam president, the 13th tribe has been destroyed for a long time," Commander Belzen said, and after another 30 minutes of explanation... "there is nothing left, except ruins and a world covered with radiation."

"Then we set course for Avalon," Admiral Adama said simply.

"Of course, Commander; you will be present at the press conference, no escape," Admiral Adama said smiling, "and you my good old friend," pointing at Colonel Tigh, "my first order, or better decision, as Admiral is your promotion to Commander."

"Well I'd say it's about fracking time," Colonel Tigh said laughing.

"Admiral, if you wish you can take the Vanguard as your flagship. I am sorry that we didn't bring a mobile drydock to repair Galactica," Commander Belzen said.

"Do you wish to take command of Pegasus, Commander?" Admiral Adama asked, watching Commander Belzen, of course he also noticed confusion from Colonel Fisk since Fisk believed that after these events he would take command of the ship, but now that remained in question.

"No sir, however, I would recommend that you put someone you can trust on Pegasus. There are still a lot of people there loyal to Cain," Commander Belzen said.

"I must object Admiral!" Colonel Fisk said outraged.

"Noted, but you will not get command of Pegasus Colonel. After all, you are the person who ordered the atrocities on the Scylla and other civilian ships. Maybe you didn't fire the first shot, but you are definitely guilty," Admiral Adama said, "Commander Belzen you will remain in command of the Vanguard."

"Yes sir, Admiral. By the way, we may not have a dock, but the support ship has many spare parts and we have excellent teams that can repair most of the damage on Galactica. With your permission they can start immediately," Commander Belzen said.

"Of course," Admiral Adama said nodding then turned to Commander Hastings, "Commander Hastings, I will not take command from you, but I would like to return to the Valkyrie; at least until the repairs on Galactica are over. It has been a long time since I've been on that ship."

"Yes sir, Admiral it would be a pleasure to have you on board," Commander Hastings replied quickly.

"Colonel Fisk, you may not get command of Pegasus, but still you will remain on your post as XO of the ship," Admiral Adama said.

"Yes sir," Colonel Fisk replied.

"Now if that is all, there are a few things I must do before we announce all the changes to the fleet. By now they must know about the new ships here," Admiral Adama said.

After that; Commanders Belzen and Hastings returned to their ships, Fisk returned to Pegasus and after a short chat newly promoted Admiral Adama returned to his own quarters. He also sent word for his son Lee to join him there.

Under Commander Belzen's orders, marines were sent to find any Cylons hiding in the Galactica's fleet using the pictures and information Commander Belzen gave them. The Cylons found in the search were executed under the President's order. A few tracking devices were found with the Cylons and destroyed.

20 minutes later

Admiral Adama's quarters...

After hearing a knock on the door, Admiral Adama yelled "Enter," and his son entered the room.

"Well congratulations are in order, you finally got the Admiral's wings," Lee _Apollo_ Adama said smiling, sitting down in a chair.

"All these years, I looked forward to becoming Admiral of my own fleet and each time I failed, especially after the Valkyrie incident. And now, I finally got it," Admiral Adama said.

"You probably lost faith that you'd ever become Admiral," Lee said with a smile, "but you are now admiral of this fleet, and we need you."

"And Pegasus needs a new commander. I've decided that it should be you," Admiral Adama said shortly.

"Me? I am surprised that you chose me; there's Fisk, and Garner, or other more experienced officers..." Lee said trailing off.

"I can't trust Fisk, and Garner is an engineer. And by the way, you have experience and training to be a Commander. If not for the attack, you would already be in command of your own ship and in a few years, your own battlestar. But war is war. I am giving you the chance now. Don't make me have to choose from the others," Admiral Adama said.

"Then I accept; only if I get to take specialist Dualla and Starbuck with me," Commander Lee Adama said grinning.

"You get command of your own Battlestar and still you bargain. You can have Dualla, but Starbuck stays on Galactica. I need a good CAG after you take command on the Pegasus. And besides you have a CAG on Pegasus, Captain Taylor," Admiral Adama said.

"Taylor, with respect he was a jackass. He had me at gunpoint in a raptor when Pegasus and Galactica were about to get into a shooting match not too long ago. I doubt he will take well to the change in command," Commander Lee Adama said.

"Maybe, but still he will not disobey orders from you and if you have some problems send him to me. I will deal with him swiftly. Of course you can't be Commander of a Battlestar with a captain's rank. Here you go, you will need this," Admiral Adama said taking from his desk locker a Commander's insignia.

"Thank you sir," Commander Lee Adama said.

"I will take care of the rest; you have 30 minutes to get your ass there and start putting things in order," Admiral Adama said.

"You can count on me," Commander Lee Adama said.

Cylon Colony, unknown system - Command Room

"What do you mean, you lost the fracking resurrection ship?!" John Cavil yelled at one of the Fives that commanded the resurrection fleet.

"Three Battlestars jumped in and immediately opened fire on us. We didn't have a chance. Moments before the attack; two or three stealthstars jumped in and blew up the engines of the resurrection ship and by the time that we tried to react they disappeared," the number five said.

"Did you at least ID the ships in the fleet?" John Cavil asked.

"Yes. Two Mercury class Battlestars Vanguard and Chimera, and Valkyrie class the Valkyrie herself," the number five replied.

"What!?" John Cavil yelled.

Cavil yelled so loud that everyone in the room stayed silent; nobody wanted to say anything. Before anyone said anything, Cavil hit the nearest console with his fist.

"That son of a bitch, he said he had plans for those captured ships and he had it all under control back home. Fracking moron," John Cavil said angrily.

"Calm down, it could be anything; maybe some of his prisoners escaped, and somehow got to the ships, or maybe they were re-taken from surviving colonial units. We know that there are a few ships still not accounted for," a number four called Simon O'Neill said trying to calm the situation.

"Really? He assured me that all the ships that survived would be destroyed. He sent the message that he eradicated the humans remaining on the colonies and that he destroyed all the remaining ships. And now we get this. First Pegasus joins Galactica's fleet, then three Battlestars, two of which were supposed to be under our control and a third destroyed. They attacked and destroyed three of our ships. Now how did that happen? When I get ahold of that idiot, I will kill him with my own two hands," John Cavil said angrily, envisioning himself crushing Jack Cavil's neck.

"Relax, there must be a good explanation for this," another Number one called Lucian said, "we should concentrate on Galactica and the rest of her fleet. If these new ships have joined with her then it means they have; five battlestars, three of them Mercuries, three gunstars, and one old firestar. I believe that to be a much better priority than seeking revenge on our brother for his failure."

"Fine! I don't even want to think about what else he could've screwed up, like how many other ships survived the original assault. But one thing is for sure, I will kill him," John Cavil said.

"Don't over react; let's take this one step at a time," a number five called Aaron Doral said, "so what if those three ships survived, they are still outgunned."

"I wouldn't be so sure brother; humans are unpredictable. And let's not forget that we destroyed their homes, their military, everything. Those that remain are more dangerous than the entire Colonial Navy intact," a number two called Leoben Conoy said.

"One more reason to eliminate Galactica and the other ships. There are too many battlestars present," John Cavil replied.

"And what about Earth?" a number six known as Caprica Six asked.

"What about it?" John Cavil asked.

"If we destroy Galactica, then we will never find Earth and the 13th tribe," Caprica Six said.

"Myth, we are following a myth, and what if Earth and the 13th tribe don't exist? We're wasting time for nothing, I say this time we crush them. We've left them to live for too long," John Cavil said.

Galactica Fleet's location

Battlestar Pegasus

Commander Belzen decided to visit his former ship and after landing on Pegasus he started his way to the C.I.C. Newly promoted Commander Lee Adama had already taken over the ship. Half of the crew was for his taking over, but half were not; believing that Cain should remain in command.

"Commander, it's good to see you again," Lieutenant Hoshi said smiling widely, approaching from the opposite direction.

"And you as well, Lieutenant. It's good to see this ship again, especially under new management," Commander Belzen said.

"I think most of the crew would like you to take command of Pegasus, they don't really have anything against Commander Adama, but still," Lieutenant Hoshi said.

"Well I can understand that, but the Vanguard is now my home Lieutenant, and you have yourself a good commanding officer," Commander Belzen said.

Commander Belzen knew about the Cylon number eight model aboard the Galactica who was pregnant, and had sent a detachment of marines near her special prison cell for her protection as well as the fleets, knowing there would be some in the fleet unhappy with a Cylon aboard the fleet travelling back to Avalon. After visiting CIC, Commander Belzen visited Pegasus' brig to see the other captured Cylon from Galactica's fleet, located in her own special reinforced cell. There he found a man trying to feed the beaten blonde woman, a number six.

"Who the hell are you?" Commander Belzen asked while entering the brig, escorted by two well-armed marines.

"My name is Dr. Gaius Baltar, and I am here to help the cylon prisoner. Who are you?" Baltar replied.

"I am Commander Jurgen Belzen. From the reports I received; this woman killed seven marines before she was taken down. From now on, nobody has permission to visit her unless they get it from Admiral Adama or me," Commander Belzen said.

"Commander, this woman needs help. I understand she is a Cylon, but she is a living being and I can't leave her to die," Baltar protested.

"She will not die Mr. Baltar. She will get food and water, and you have my word that no one will touch her. I am not sadistic like Cain, and I am sure that Commander Adama thinks like me. She is safe from further harm, but she is also dangerous. So doc, visiting hour is over and you will get out of here, now. Don't worry, you will have the opportunity to heal and clean her once a week. Now move," Commander Belzen said forcefully.

One of the marines gestured to the doors for Baltar to exit, and without a choice Baltar complied. After Baltar was gone, Commander Belzen looked down upon the blonde woman. She was in the corner of the cell, staring at him. Undoubtedly, she thought he would rape her as the others had. But she also saw there was something different about him; he didn't look mean, or angry.

"What is your name, or designation?" Commander Belzen asked.

For some time there was no response, so he repeated himself, "look I will not torture you or do anything to harm you, so what is your name?" Commander Belzen asked. After a few more seconds of silence the Cylon woman finally spoke, "Gina. Now what do you plan to do with me?"

"At the moment, nothing. You will stay here in the brig. You will receive food and water, and nobody will touch you. We are not all animals as you Cylons think of us, and I am not like Cain," Commander Belzen replied shortly.

Gina only nodded her head. Commander Belzen then exited the brig.

Vanguard's Situation Room

Commander's Belzen, Tigh, Lee Adama and Admiral Adama debated over the best route to reach Avalon.

"We don't know anything about this region," Commander Tigh said, "and we don't even know where the main Cylon fleet is."

"There's no doubt that they plan to attack. By now they must have realized that our ships joined with Galactica and with a force of five battlestars, we present a large threat to them. Sooner or later they will attack us," Commander Belzen said.

"Do you have a plan Commander?" Admiral Adama asked.

"Yes I do. I noticed there were three Sentinel class gunstars and one old firestar in your fleet Admiral," Commander Belzen said.

"Two of the gunstars were damaged and they are not fully repaired. The firestar, if I am not mistaken, was converted as a cargo ship. There's not much of a force from there," Admiral Adama said.

"Admiral Stryker is using a large amount of patrols all around the fleet to warn him about immediate danger. A circle created around the fleet in a radius of one light year where stealthstars, raptors, scouts, and patrols are. This creates an excellent grid; in case one of the raptors or stealthstars sees an enemy ship, the assault force is able to intercept and destroy it. Of course this is a defense against raiders and heavy raiders, and if they encountered a baseship or more of them then a new route for the fleet is made," Commander Belzen said.

"Interesting, but how this can help to us? I mean the Cylons could be practically everywhere by splitting their fleet up and then massing in a large group once they find us," Commander Lee Adama said.

"Yes they can. However, we can split our forces into two divisions. Vanguard, Chimera and Pegasus in one; making a Mercury trio, and with their firepower hardly anything would survive. Valkyrie, Galactica and the rest of our forces would be division two. The second division's priority is to always stay with the fleet, while the first division will attack the Cylons, or be the first line of defensive in case of an attack," Commander Belzen said.

"That will divide our forces; we could have a lot of gaps in our defenses," Admiral Adama said.

"If they attack in force and start their attacks from behind us with heavy raiders, then hardly any ship will have the time to react," Commander Belzen replied.

"You also mentioned before that during the first trip to Terminus, Admiral Stryker encountered a new threat?" Admiral Adama asked curiously.

"Unfortunately yes; automatized drones called the Harvesters. We don't know much about them; only that they were made from a very old and advanced race. We don't know what new can of shit opened in front of us, but that's why I want to introduce the patrol grid. It will warn us of an enemy before we even encounter them. And sir, I would also add that I have another plan; a plan that I would leave for the end if all else failed," Commander Belzen said.

"I am listening," Admiral Adama said.

"Locate and attack the colony itself," Commander Belzen said simply.

Everyone in the room looked at each other, and mumbled.

"It would be suicide," Commander Tigh said.

"From the Cylons that defected in our fleet; we found out a lot about the colony. It was created around the original ship in which the so called final five or survivors from the 13th tribe came in. I would say we attack in force and launch every missile, nuclear or otherwise, and blast it to pieces," Commander Belzen suggested.

"We will set course for Avalon, or at least the coordinates where we can intercept the main fleet, and I would like to get a good look at your plan commander. That is all for now," Admiral Adama said.

As the others started to leave, Admiral Adama said, "don't forget, the press conference is tomorrow at 10:00 on Colonial One. I expect you all to be there."

"Yes sir," Commanders Tigh, Lee Adama, and Belzen said.


	16. 2x04 The Gathering Storm

The Gathering Storm

Colonial One, Press Conference

Day 178 Since the Fall

The press conference on board Colonial One went on for over two hours. Commander Belzen was shelled with questions about the main fleet, Avalon, and the survivors on Picon. The Harvesters were not mentioned since Admiral Adama didn't want to scare the people of the fleet with a new enemy potentially worse than the Cylons. Although Commander Belzen didn't like the press he answered every question they asked.

After the conference, all fleet Battlestar Commanding and Executive officers were ordered to meet on Galactica to discuss future plans.

Battlestar Galactica

Wardroom

"Since Admiral Adama did not approve of my plan for a direct assault on the Cylon Colony, I made a new one. Even if we draw the Cylon fleet out of the colony it's still too powerful for all five of our Battlestars. However, instead of targeting the colony right now, we should target their fleet itself," Commander Belzen said.

"If what you say is true Commander, that there's fifty baseships out there, how do you possibly imagine us attacking fifty baseships with only five battlestars?" Commander Tigh asked.

"This plan is also risky, but not impossible," Admiral Adama said, "do you have anymore ideas Commander?"

"Yes. We can avoid the Cylon fleet as best we can until we reach the main fleet or Avalon. However the Cylons will follow us, there's no doubt about that. And when they arrive in force with the Colony ship and fifty baseships it will be a bloody battle; especially if they round up the remaining Cylon ships from the Cyrannus system. In which case any defense will be much harder. The defense grid around Avalon is still not one hundred percent ready. All resources are being diverted to the creation of new cities for survivors to live in and even repairs on Sanctuary have been slowed. However, we must slow down the Cylons before we head to Avalon. At least destroy half of their current ships before we do anything else," Commander Belzen replied.

"From your reports Commander, Admiral Stryker has more than enough ships and personnel to stop any kind of attack, but right now we need focus on our current situation. How do you plan to destroy the enemy fleet, with fifty baseships in it?" Admiral Adama asked.

"What about raiding attacks?" Commander Lee Adama interjected.

"Raiding attacks?" Commander Belzen asked.

"You mentioned that your forces destroyed several cylon ships with guerrilla style attacks," Commander Lee Adama said.

"We did, but it's not a perfect option here. The Cylons have been keeping a majority of their fleet together in groups on patrol duties. And after they lost their Resurrection ship and its escorts they won't risk a group small enough for us to attack like before. However, I have a plan that might work to our advantage with their new strategy of grouping their baseships together. It would be incredibly difficult, but it will work and we can move the civilians out of the combat zone afterward," Commander Belzen said.

"Alright Commander, we're listening," Admiral Adama said.

"Our long range scouts discovered what we believe to be a black hole, judging from it's strong gravity field that our scouts barely managed to escape. We can lure a large Cylon patrol fleet into the black hole," Commander Belzen said.

"Luring enemy forces into a black hole? If our ships detected the difference in standard cosmic gravity field then there's no chance they won't detect it as well and jump right out," Commander Tigh said.

"Hmm they probably would since the Cylons have better FTL and dradis systems. However, we can fool their sensors at least for a few moments; long enough to lure them in. They will no doubt fanatically want to destroy our fleet when they see five battlestars, and especially three Mercury class battlestars, in an apparently exposed position. It will be a very tempting target so they will jump directly to us. But they won't be jumping to the real us; they will be jumping to decoys," Commander Belzen said.

"Care to explain Commander?" Admiral Adama asked.

"Yes Admiral; we will take twenty Raptors all rigged to fly automatically without pilots on board with operators on a command ship near the gravity well, but at a safe distance from the black hole. Once they get into position we will transmit false signals, lots of them, to make it appear like our Battlestars and other ships are there. The Cylons will think it's our fleet and if we get lucky they will be naive and jump in. However, once we launch decoys from raptors, they will be also added to raptors, we will self-destruct all twenty raptors. The explosions will not be big, but if we put one nuke on one of the raptors it will completely mess with their sensors for a short time. They will jump in, and then they will be trapped," Commander Belzen said.

"And why do you think this will work?" Commander Lee Adama asked.

"I don't know for sure that it will, but what other options we have? A direct assault is not an option and with good reason; we would lose all our ships before we could destroy the colony. A direct assault on their fleet - well we may destroy 12 to 18 baseships at best, but in the end all our ships would be destroyed as well and then the Cylons will have no problem destroying the rest of the fleet. Running from them will only delay our problems and it will add them as a new problem to our main fleet and Avalon. If we can cut down even one third or half of their fleet, it will help our chances exponentially," Commander Belzen said.

"Well Commander, then we will do as you say. You will have twenty raptors prepared, how long will we need to get to the vicinity of the black hole?" Admiral Adama asked.

"Two days, since it is behind us sir," Commander Belzen said.

"And what is the plan for the rest of the fleet while we enact this operation?" Admiral Adama asked.

"Vanguard will stay near the black hole so that operators can control the raptors, the signal will probably be distorted but I hope they will succeed. One other Battlestar, the Valkyrie, will lure the cylons in and then if they take the bait jump to the location of the fleet far behind the black hole in a safe position. The rest of the fleet will be a safe distance away while we complete the operation. Once we confirm the Cylons have jumped near the black hole and are trapped we will then jump the fleet out," Commander Belzen said.

"Your chances of success?" Admiral Adama asked.

"I will not lie Admiral, no more than fifty percent. However, we must try. There is no other option," Commander Belzen said.

"Alright, then I approve the mission to go ahead," Commander Adama said.

Copernicus Colony – Battlestar Prometheus, Flag Suite

"Enter," Rear Admiral Jonathan Turner said.

Admiral Turner was well into his thirties, having served on many ships and in many battles. His last mission before the fall was Operation Outreach to find the thirteenth colony, and use the exploration data to find a habitable planet on the way there in order to establish a colony outside the Cryannus system. He was now the highest ranking military officer in the small fleet that protected the Copernicus colony. The Copernicus defense force consisted of two Nova class Battlestars Nova and Prometheus (flagship), Mercury class Battlestar Eternal and Valkyrie class Battlestar Celestial. There were also several gunstars and support ships, as well as the old battlestar from the first cylon war Battlestar Ares.

The doors opened and General John Connors walked in.

"We just received news from our scouts. Another fleet of Cylon ships have been spotted in the sector. Twenty baseships, a resurrection ship, and one large ship of unknown class that must be the flagship of the group," General Connors said.

"Hmm, it didn't take them long to send a new fleet after us," Admiral Turner replied.

"Shall we proceed as last time sir?" General Connors asked.

"No, we will not rush. Especially when we don't know anything about this new ship. I will speak with Sheba, since she's a Cylon, maybe she knows something about this new ship. I doubt our tactics will work like before. If they start to move too close to this system then we will act, but not before," Admiral Turner said.

"And what about those rumors sir? We know that Galactica survived. She's somewhere in the Promar sector, and there's also a second much larger group of colonial ships that survived elsewhere," General Connors said.

"We can not send ships out right now in search of those groups. Once we deal with this new threat then perhaps we can, but for now we need all of our ships here. Is that all General?" Admiral Turner asked.

"Yes, sir," General Connors said, saluting and then leaving the flag suite.

Day 180 Since the Fall

Battlestar Vanguard C.I.C.

"Jump completed," the helm officer said, "stabilizing the ship now."

The ship was still shaking even though they were a safe distance from the black hole; the gravity field was so powerful its effects could be felt from a great distance away.

"Compensating sir, we are at a safe distance, but we can't do anything more about the effects of the gravity on the ship even at this extreme range," the helm officer said.

"Never mind, we won't stay for long here," Commander Belzen said shortly.

Watching his XO Belzen ordered the Raptors to be deployed.

"All Raptors deployed, they are jumping into position now," Colonel Shelly Magene said.

"Sir, we have confirmation that all ships jumped safely. We are the only one left, and the Valkyrie reported that they found a Cylon fleet of ships heading towards the Raptors," the communications officer said.

"Good, let's hope Valkyrie can jump away without any problems; there are a lot of distortions out there causing our systems problems," Commander Belzen said.

Baseship 110 Command room

"We got them, they're directly in front of us," one of the number fours said.

"Hmm, something is not right, why is the signal so distorted?" Charlie Doral, leader of the assault group that consisted of twelve baseships, asked.

"There is a nebula in the vicinity. Our raiders that we sent forward haven't returned yet. I suggest we jump in and attack the colonials before they can escape again," a number four said.

"I'm not so sure, these distortions affecting our systems could be from a nebula, but it could also be from a black hole," a number two said looking at the number four.

"Our scouts didn't report any black hole in this sector. We would know if there was one," the number four said confidently.

Charlie was not an experienced Commander, so he didn't know for sure if he should continue or wait, but before he could react the only number three in the room yelled out, "we have more contacts jumping in; the rest of the fleet has arrived, including the hub and colony. And we are being hailed."

Charlie nodded to the number three, and then started speaking, "John, our sensors show colonials in front of us, but we can't be sure if they are really there, there's a lot of distortion messing with our systems which I believe is from a black hole."

"Black hole? Our charts don't show any black hole here," John Cavil said.

"Yes I know, but we can't be sure of the source of the distortions affecting our systems, and I don't want to risk our ships if a black hole is really out there," Charlie said.

"I don't want excuses. Send your ships in and destroy the colonial ships, if they escape again I will kill you myself, do you understand?" John said threateningly.

"Yes John," Charlie replied and John abruptly cut the transmission.

After the transmission ended, Charlie turned to the others.

"So, what do we do now?" Charlie asked.

"We do what John told us, we must catch those colonial ships; all ships are to jump in and attack the colonials," the number three said simply.

Colonial Decoy Raptor Force and Battlestar Vanguard at a remote/safe distance away

It's now or never Commander Belzen thought to himself when suddenly twelve red icons appeared on dradis near the location of the raptors. Decoys were fired from all the raptors to show dradis signatures of three battlestars and the raptors self destructed to remove any doubt that the decoys were anything but the real thing.

"Sir, the cylons have taken the bait, they jumped in with twelve baseships," the dradis officer said.

"Good, now it's getting interesting," Commander Belzen said with a smile.

Baseship 110 was one of the first baseships to jump to the coordinates, immediately it started shaking, and even though the ship was not too close to the black hole it was close enough to be caught in the gravity field.

Baseship 110 Command Room

"Report!" Charlie said.

"As we predicted it is a black hole," a number two said.

"Frak, get us out of here, f..." before he can say more, two of the ships near his baseship exploded, the gravity force was so strong that it moved one of the baseships directly into the path of another that just jumped in. Both ships collided with each other and exploded, the debris hitting a third baseship and taking another one with them.

"Get us out of here," Charlie yelled as the black hole started sucking in and destroying the entire Cylon fleet.

"We can't move, we jumped too close in front of the coordinates where we thought the colonial ships were but there's nothing; this was a trap," a number four said.

"A trap, frak, pull all energy to the FTL engines," Charlie said.

"You don't understand, we can not move, it's pulling us toward the black hole we can't do anything!" the lone number three said in panic.

"Damn you John Cavil, damn you Adama," Charlie said furiously.

It took only thirty minutes before all the remaining ships were within the event horizon; one after another, they were smashed to pieces and they simply disappeared.

"Valkyrie is safe, and twelve Cylon baseships were smashed by the black hole," the dradis officer said.

"Good work. Commence jump to the fleet's location," Commander Belzen said.

Moments later the Vanguard disappeared.

Cylon Colony

"No word from Charlie and his fleet, we lost contact after he jumped," Aaron Doral said.

"What the hell is going on?" John Cavil asked.

"It would be best to send heavy raider to search for his fleet, we can't risk sending anymore baseships," Leoben Conoy said.

"Yes, yes send the raider, I want answers. The last thing your brother said before his fleet jumped was that he had a lead on the colonial fleet, and he was moving to engage. And if I recall he also mentioned a black hole..." John Cavil said trailing off in realization of what could've happened.

"Is it possible that he and his fleet jumped too close to the black hole?" Simon O'Neill asked.

"I doubt he would be so stupid; their ship sensors would warn him of the danger," Aaron Doral replied.

"However it happened, we just lost contact with twelve of our ships. I want answers, what the frak happened out there!" John Cavil said.

"The heavy raider just launched, and it jumped away," one of the sixes said.

"Good, inform me when the raider returns," John said as he left the room.

Vanguard C.I.C.

"Jump completed sir," the dradis officer said, "we are at the fleet's coordinates."

"Sir, incoming message from Galactica. Admiral Adama wants to speak with you," the communications officer said.

"Very well, put him on the line," Commander Belzen said as he took hold of a communications headset.

"It is done admiral, we managed to lure in twelve baseships to the black hole with no survivors, and I doubt they will resurrect: there was way too much distortion out there," Commander Belzen said into the headset.

"Good. What is your next plan Commander, do you want to lure more of the cylon ships into traps, or do we head home?" Admiral Adama asked.

"I believe this is your call Admiral, but I think it is best that we go back with best possible speed. Though I would suggest we plan an attack on the colony before we get too far. It won't take long for the Cylons to realize what happened to their fleet, and we also don't want to be nearby when they find out," Commander Belzen said.

"Alright then, we are going back. How long do you think we would need to arrive at Avalon?" Admiral Adama asked.

"Hard to say sir, I don't know anything about this sector of space. We calculate that if we go in a straight line then about eight months at the best possible speed," Commander Belzen said.

"Some of the ships can't keep up with the others, Commander," Admiral Adama said.

"Then we resettle everyone on ships incapable of going at the needed speed to other ships and self-destruct those that can't keep up with us or dock them onto the battlestars, or even repair their engines if necessary. We can not have delays. We need to put as much distance between us and the Cylons as fast as possible and arrive at Avalon or meet the fleet as soon as we can from here," Commander Belzen said.

"Well if there are no other options, then that is what we will do, Adama out," Admiral Adama said.

After a few more minutes, all ships jump again disappearing in bright flashes. Vanguard and Chimera were the last to jump, and soon both of them disappeared together leaving no trace of the colonial fleet.

Some time later...

Cylon Colony

"The Raider returned, he didn't find Charlie's fleet," Simon O'Neill said while reading recent reports, "there's no sign of our ships or the colonial fleet, however, the trail ends near a black hole, class two."

"Your assumptions?" John Cavil asked.

After a few minutes of silence he asked again, "Anyone? I want a theory."

"The colonial forces lured Charlie's fleet into a black hole," D'Anna Biers said.

"And how did you conclude that?" Cavil asked.

"There's no battle wreckage, ours or colonial. However there is some small debris near the event horizon of the black hole, we cannot analyze it, not unless we want to jeopardize our ships. If you ask me, the colonials lured our fleet too close, and they ended up trapped inside the gravity field of the black hole," D'Anna Biers replied.

"Even if that is right, a black hole wouldn't tear our ships apart so fast, except if they jumped directly onto the event horizon. There would be more debris and it's well known that around a black hole that time is slower - time dilation," John Cavil said.

"Hmm, that works only for class three, four and higher of black holes. Class two is a small but very aggressive black hole, it's stronger than a larger one, which is a paradox. Smaller black holes do not have a large gravity field, but near the center it's aggressive and it pulls much faster than a larger one; for larger ones it would take days, years, or even centuries to get trapped from the outer part to the mid section, or her mouth if you want call it that," D'Anna explained.

"How the hell do you know so much about black holes?" John Cavil asked.

"I think that's not important, what is important is why Charlie jumped so close. Sensors on his ship must have malfunctioned, or were jammed by the colonials somehow, or they would have sensed a gravity disturbance on their sensors," D'Anna concluded.

"To cut this chat short, we lost twelve ships because your stupid brother jumped directly into a black hole believing there was a colonial fleet there. And if this was a colonial trap, it worked perfectly," John Cavil said sarcastically, glaring at Aaron Doral.

"Don't look at me, brother, you gave Charlie command of the fleet," Aaron Doral said disdainfully.

"Yes I did, it was my mistake. That mistake will not happen again," John Cavil said.

It was the first time John Cavil admitted to a mistake, his own mistake, not made by others. However nobody had the guts to smile or say something about it. Losing twelve ships was a major blow, and if this wasn't bad enough there was a second problem for the Cylons to deal with. A rebellion, within their own ranks. Some human cylons didn't approve of John's plan from the start, and now they were actively working to put a stop to the war and John's plans. Even as he tried to find out exactly which Cylons the rebels were, he had thus failed so far. He had his suspicions of the leaders though.

"Can we track Galactica's fleet?" John Cavil asked.

"I am afraid not, they are not on their standard course. And we haven't heard anything yet from our spies with the fleet. We lost them, but I believe they have changed their course of direction, only where to and which direction of space I am not sure," Leoben said.

"Hmm, a pure disaster. We should send a ship behind the black hole, something tells me if they want to hide their trail they would go in that direction, towards the Terminus sector," Cavil said.

"Are you sure, it would not be best to return to the Cyrannus system?" Aaron Doral asked.

"Yes that's my plan, I want to visit my dear brothers. Three battlestars, two of which were supposed to be in our hands and one destroyed, came to the aid of Galactica. My brothers will have lots of questions to answer. Set course to Cyrannus, and send one ship toward the Terminus sector. If the ship finds the trail of Galactica, then we will send a detachment of twenty baseships to intercept them and destroy them once for all," John Cavil said, getting up and walking out of the room.

As he walked out of the room, he said quietly to himself, "Morons, I am surrounded by morons."

Avalon system – Avalon Colony

Governer Miral Shkan sat in his office in the tallest, and really the only building of its size that was completed in the city. The town had quickly grown into a city; changing its name three times so far and now it had been renamed Calgaris – named for a province on Caprica that once had a town with the same name. But after Caprica was destroyed, it was believed that at least one name of the cities or provinces from Caprica should be used on Avalon to raise moral. Commander Salveng, current commander of the Battlestar Sword, entered the room.

"Commander," Governer Miral Shkan said shortly, gesturing for him to sit down in one of the chairs. After the Commander sat down Governer Miral Shkan started talking about why he had called the Commander to his office, "As you know, Commander Krasner ordered all ships into Grey mode believing that the threat of those harvesters is real; I was interested in hearing your own opinion."

"Sir, I do not know for what purpose you sent for me, but I must agree with Commander Krasner's orders. We cannot afford to draw the attention of those drones, not at this time. And I support his decision," Commander Salveng said.

"That is all I wanted to hear, but I need you and your ship for a mission," Governor Miral Shkan said.

"What kind of mission?" Commander Salveng asked.

"You will scout around with the Sword. We need to know what is around us, Commander Krasner is keeping us all blind. Without knowing what is around us we can not know what we have to deal with," Governor Miral Shkan said.

"Is this the Commander's order?" Commander Salveng asked.

"It is my order, and I expect you to follow it," Governor Miral Shkan said.

"Sir, I follow orders only from Commander Krasner, he is after all responsible for all military units here. You on the other hand can give your orders only to the civilians, and those of the military that Commander Krasner allows," Commander Salveng said.

"I already spoke with Krasner, and he agreed, he didn't like it but he agreed to the mission. If you don't believe me, do you want to speak with Krasner?" Governor Miral Shkan asked glaring at Commander Salveng.

"No of course not, I believe you governor," Commander Salveng said quickly, not wanting to take the case up with Commander Krasner if he had already approved the mission. Commander Salveng was a young man in his mid twenties. He had been the Commander of the Battlestar Sword for a month, while the old commander was replaced and settled onto the surface to coordinate with surface constructions. Commander Krasner believed that a military officer would do it better then some engineer or civilian constructor. Prior to that, he had been the executive officer on the Sword since the beginning of the mission long before the Cylons attacked. Young and inexperienced, Salveng didn't know to see if the words from the Governor were true or not, and since the Governor offered him the chance to ask the Commander for confirmation of the mission then he believed the mission must have been approved.

Governor Shkan didn't have bad intentions, but since the time when a higher level of security was added there had been no exploration or scout missions allowed. Nobody actually knew what lay within and around the Avalon system, and that was the simply scary to many people like Governor Miral Shkan. A beacon in the dark, as the Governor had said many times. And his choice to send a battlestar instead of a gunstar was simple: in case the Sword found some trouble it would have much more chance of escape to report back than a gunstar.

"That will be all, here is a list of coordinates for nearby systems that you will visit. Under no circumstances are you to jump within the system where Sanctuary was or any of its surrounding systems. And you will try to stay out of sight of the harvesters in case you run into them. If you must, put your entire ship into black mode and act as debris, but do not engage them except if you have no choice but to defend yourself. Is that understood?" Governor Miral Shkan said looking piercingly into Commander Salveng's eyes.

"Yes Governor," Commander Salveng said.

After that, the Commander left the room. In normal times, a Governor had access to military assets and could use them in dangerous situations or to hunt pirates, smugglers, and criminals. But this war was not like normal times. And using the only battlestar available to the colony for this mission was damn risky, but it had to be done. Commander Krasner would find out about this, and would be furious, but someone had to do it. If he didn't have the balls to do it, and follows every order Admiral Stryker says, then I will, Governer Miral Shkan thought to himself. Admiral Stryker is light years away from here, with a large fleet of military and civilians and is well protected, what does he know?

After Commander Salveng returned to his ship he ordered the Sword to jump to the first coordinates; to a system that was code named D81 Coronet. It was a binary star system with two stars orbiting each other. One yellow star, and a small white dwarf star. Orbiting the stars were fourteen planetary bodies, six of which were solid planets and the rest were simply gas giants. There were also dozens of moons and large asteroid belts on the edges of the system. It was an ideal place to start exploring. However, Commander's Salveng's mission was not to explore every single cosmic object in the system, merely the solid planets and moons that could possibly support life or be terraformed to support life.

It didn't take long before Commander Kranser realized that a ship from the defense fleet was missing. He rushed toward the planet to confront the Governor.

"Come in," Governor Miral Shkan said.

The doors opened and Commander Krasner entered the room calmly, the look on his face showing how furious he was despite his calm actions.

"Tell me governor, can you explain why one of my ships has been diverted and why it jumped away? Why you ordered Commander Salveng to jump away with our only battlestar?" Commander Krasner asked fuming with barely contained anger.

"Exploration, Commander, for exploration," Governor Miral Shkan said quietly.

"Are you mad?! What part of Admiral Stryker's order is not clear? Do you even know what kind of danger is threatening us governor, do you?" Commander Krasner asked slamming his hands down on the desk in front of Governer Miral Shkan.

"You're exaggerating Commander. I realize there may be danger around; after all this sector is mostly unknown to us. And after what we found on the dead world, yes, you and Admiral have every right to be on alert. However, tell me Commander, what do you know about the systems that surround this one?" Governor Miral Shkan asked.

"Frankly I don't know much, except the probes and scouts we sent that visited a few neighboring systems, nothing more," Commander Krasner said.

"Precisely. Let's say, we encounter those harvesters. I mean we encounter them here. Sooner or later they will come here after all. Where do we go, where do we hide? There are no underground bunkers and shelters to hide the people that are currently on Avalon. They are not being built, since all resources are going to future habitats for survivors. I told Admiral Stryker that we need to have one more planet, to terraform it if needed; in case the Cylons or these harvesters find Avalon. To hide and protect our people. But he refused. My duty is to protect the civilians, as is yours and it may look like this was done risking the safety of the colony, but on the other hand it could protect it if we know what is around us. I gave Commander Salveng orders not to engage the harvesters, and he will avoid them at all costs," Governor Miral Shkan said.

"That may not be enough Governor. He may avoid contact, but if they get his ship on scanners they will engage him and possibly destroy the Battlestar Sword. The Battlestar Sword is our best defense that is now nowhere to be seen at Avalon leaving us with a gaping hole in our defenses until it hopefully returns," Commander Krasner said.

"Best defense? Excuse me, but what about Invictus and the rest of the gunstar fleet?" Governor Miral Shkan said angrily.

"Invictus is more of a mobile base and shipyard than a ship itself, and with all those docks and addons it is not mobile anymore. It can serve as a fortress and base of command, but it can not move and it cannot intercept the enemy. Additionally, gunstars do not have the firepower of a battlestar nor its number of fighters. You risked the safety of this Colony Governor, and I must report this to Admiral Stryker," Commander Krasner said.

"Go ahead, I did what is best for our people. I will tell the Admiral what I told you," Governor Miral Shkan said.

"I hope you are right Governor," Commander Krasner said.

Edge of the Coronet system

Battlestar Sword passed by each planet and their moons, but none of them were capable of supporting life. The ship was at condition one since Commander Salveng didn't want to be caught off guard, especially not in unexplored territory. Only the alert fighters were out, flying in formations of two or three all around the battlestar. While all the other squadrons were on standby in case they were needed.

"So far so good Commander," Colonel Chelys said.

"Don't get complacent, we have no idea what we may find out here. This system has too many planets and moons," Commander Salveng replied.

"Dradis, is there anything out there?" Colonel Chelys asked.

"Nothing sir, all clear," the dradis officer said.

"You worry too much Commander; it's a big, cold, and clear system," Colonel Chelys said dismissively.

"I don't know, but I have a feeling that something is watching us. Something is out here, call me paranoid but I simply know," Commander Salveng said. From his childhood Salveng had always known when someone was watching or following him, he had a sixth sense that simply told him this. He was right, at least this time, something was following them and observing the unknown ship that had shown up in the system looking around.

...

No one on the Sword noticed that they were in fact being followed. There was a long dark ship, barely seen in the darkness and light of the space. It followed the battlestar in deadly silence. It was invisible on dradis and other sensor systems. Even invisible to the naked eye at long range. But the ship was actually painted black, with many of the ships parts having reflective dark panels on the hull that deflect any kind of light and thus made the ship invisible. A stealth system, definitely more advanced than anything the colonials had.

On the top of the ship was a small observation deck, in severe dark blackness with the only light coming from the stars outside, however there was an emergency blue light on the edges of the floor.

There were two men inside, both humans. Dressed in a dark blue uniform, both men wore badges of unknown origin, dark in appearance like they were made from obsidian.

One of the men spoke, "Do we know anything about this ship?"

He was tall with dark hair, his green eyes like two malachite gems staring into the abyss, watching the Battlestar Sword as she slowly cruised toward the edge of the system. In colonial terms he was in his mid fifties. The second man was younger, maybe in his late twenties, and he was also tall with brown eyes.

"Nothing, it jumped into the system about two hours ago, and from that time it passed from one to another planet in the system, scanning and moving toward the next one. It also passed near two dozen moons. The ship has an interesting design, I would say it would be perfect without those two large pods on each side of the ship. I believe it's for fighters and smaller support crafts. From our sensors, the ship is very well armored. But other systems are relatively primitive. Kinetic energy weapons - though even as primitive as they are they can create pretty large amounts of damage in everything they hit, missiles - large amounts of them, and from the radiation signature the ship's carrying nuclear weapons, probably within small yields; five, ten, maybe twenty megatons. There's a point defense grid that's clearly created against fighters and missiles. The ship is not equipped for a fight against shielded targets, only ships as well armored as itself. It's sensors are primitive, however advanced enough to detect any FTL movement in the system, and maybe beyond. And the ship has an FTL drive based on a large fusion reactor connected to smaller batteries that power the ship's main and secondary systems," the younger man said.

"Your opinion about the ship's mission?" the older man asked.

"From the looks of it, I would say it's a military ship with a large number of fighters and support crafts. Clearly a mix between a carrier and battleship. Now about it's mission, this ship looks like it can be used in many tasks; from military, civilian, and exploration. Spying though is definitely not it's purpose due to it's large size and it's high energy emissions; even if they shut down every non essential part of the ship," the younger man replied.

"Anything familiar about it?" the older man asked.

"Actually yes, zoom in on section one-seven," the younger man said as the screen he was looking at zoomed in on the Sword's back; between the cannons there was a colonial logo, red with golden strips on each sides.

"I recognize this, the last ship we encountered in the Dothali system had the same symbol except it was green and yellow instead of red and gold. And that one was five times bigger. This ship belongs to the same people as that ship. With one exception; the ship we encountered was called Sanctuary and was powered by an anti-matter drive, but had similar armaments and defenses like this one, on a larger scale. This ship doesn't posses anti-matter engines," the younger man said.

"But that is not so important, what is important is the fact that it belongs to the same people: humans. If I had to guess, this is the sign of the twelve colonies of Kobol," said the older man, pointing at the red-gold sign on the Sword's back.

"We haven't been in colonial space for almost thirty years. Why would they be so far from home?" the younger man asked.

"Exploration probably, we detected similar emissions in a nearby system. One of our ships confirmed the presence of a few large objects in orbit of one of the planets, and lots of signs of life on the surface of the planet. We believe it is a colony," the older man said.

"Again I must ask, why would they risk to come so far from home and make a colony here? From all the parts of the galaxy, in this the most dangerous area," the younger man said.

"Probably because they do not know about the dangers lurking here. Their technology is primitive, but they are capable of defending themselves from the Harvesters. Unfortunately they've already encountered them," the older man said sadly.

"They have?" the younger man asked in surprise.

"Yes, but we will leave this for another time. We will continue to follow this ship. We have a chance to observe our long lost brothers and sisters," the older man said.

"If they really are humans from Kobol, when will we make contact with them?" the younger man asked.

"Soon. We need to inform the council about this first," the older man said.


	17. 2x05 Second Frontier

**Second Frontier**

**Unity Shipyard**

Admiral Stryker sat in his chair on board the Unity, personally overseeing the repairs of his ship as well as construction of one of the two new Battlestars. There were more than enough volunteers in the fleet to man the new ships once they were finished. They had begun training new pilots and fleet personnel from civilian volunteers and would have their training completed before their arrival at Avalon, and many would go onto the salvaged warships from Picon in addition to the new ships on Unity and Eternity. He looked through the new ship's schematics and quietly murmured to himself. The communications station near him started blinking, interrupting his line of thought.

Admiral Stryker pushed the button to respond, "Yes?"

"Sir, Admiral Thorn is on board. He just received a message from Avalon and he wishes to speak with you," the communications officer said.

"Send him in," Admiral Stryker said shortly.

"He is already on his way to you sir!" the communications officer said.

"Good. Thank you lieutenant," Admiral Stryker said.

A few minutes later he heard a knock on the door.

"Come in," Admiral Stryker said.

Admiral Thorn entered the room and slowly closed the doors behind him.

"Well good friend, I didn't expect to see you for approximately two hours. What news do you have for me?" Admiral Stryker asked.

"I'm afraid it's bad and two pieces of news actually. First, Commander Krasner said that governor Miral ordered the Battlestar Sword to explore systems around Avalon," Admiral Thorn said.

"He did what?!" Admiral Stryker exclaimed in shock.

"The Sword is somewhere out around Avalon mapping out nearby systems under the Governor's direct orders," Admiral Thorn said.

"My god, we put an idiot in charge of the colony. Is he aware of the danger the threat of the Harvesters represent?" Admiral Stryker asked heatedly.

"He is, but he said it was for the good of the colony. In case the Cylons or Harvesters overrun and defeat us at Avalon, he wanted to find another planet to make a secondary colony there," Admiral Thorn said.

"And what did Krasner do?" Admiral Stryker asked.

"He protested, but he couldn't do anything. Of course with all radio and other forms of communication forbidden, he didn't try to call the Sword back," Admiral Thorn said.

"Did he at least try to send a raptor to find the Sword?" Admiral Stryker asked.

"No, Sword's last message was from the Coronet system, and was heading to Stonecrest nebula. However, Krasner doesn't have the exact coordinates of the ship so he can't afford the risk of sending a raptor to find it," Admiral Thorn replied.

"Hmm, I am sure the governor didn't mean anything to do anything stupid, but he disobeyed my orders. If he thinks what he's done is safe then he's mad: it could lure every single Harvester ship to Avalon," Admiral Stryker said.

"I agree, but I think he is right in a way," Admiral Thorn said thoughtfully.

"How so?" Admiral Stryker asked, watching Admiral Thorn carefully.

"We are coming there with an enormous fleet. It's good to know what lies around the colony. No matter how big a defensive fleet we have, defeat is a possibility and if we are defeated at Avalon then we need a fallback position. One ship missing won't risk the colony's safety too much in the short time it's gone while also giving us a good look at what's around Avalon," Admiral Thorn said.

"I disagree; if he used a gunstar then yes what you're saying is correct. I know a gunstar is much more vulnerable than a battlestar, but it also makes smaller energy emissions and dradis signature. It would be far less likely to draw attention to Avalon, and it is much easier to replace a gunstar than a battlestar if it is lost. Never mind let the Sword continue with its exploration. I just hope he will not lose the ship or draw attention to the colony. I regret that he was left in charge as the colony's governor," Admiral Stryker said.

"You will not arrest him?" Admiral Thorn asked.

"Not yet. Also, you mentioned more bad news for me?" Admiral Stryker asked.

"I would rather call it a problem. We detected something strange; a signal coming from the fleet, but we can't detect from where: there is too much chatter inside the fleet to triangulate the source," Admiral Thorn said.

"Signal? Do we at least know where signal is going?" Admiral Stryker asked.

"We know in what direction it's going: in the direction of the Cyrannus system. Probably to a ship somewhere behind us," Admiral Thorn said.

"Cylons?" Admiral Stryker asked.

"Exactly," Admiral Thorn said.

"So they somehow hid a spy inside of the fleet. Can we locate him, or her, whoever it is?" Admiral Stryker asked.

"The simple answer for now is no, we can't. Marines patrol from time to time on board the civilian ships, but they didn't find anyone that matched the Cylon models we know about. It might be a new model, or more likely it's one of the models we know changed surgically so we can't tell who it is," Admiral Thorn said.

"This complicates things," Admiral Stryker said and then sighed.

"Yes indeed. But we can't stop here, we must go forward. They may track us for now, but we are still months from Avalon. There is time to find the mole and cut the link of the signal transmitter," Admiral Thorn said confidently.

"Alright, use all the resources that you need, find it and cut the link. We can't allow the Cylons to find the colony. Send scouts to systems behind us; stealthstars, and the Banshee: we must find the Cylon ship. Once the scout units find it, blast it into dust," Admiral Stryker said.

"Understood," Admiral Thorn replied.

"Anything else?" Admiral Stryker asked.

"Nothing. Oh I almost forgot. Since I relocated Commander Gideon from the Poseidon to Olympus station, you know that he is not only an officer he's a damn good engineer and ship designer, I was thinking of putting your sister as the Poseidon's Commander," Admiral Thorn said cheerfully.

"My dear sis, Commander of the Poseidon? Sure, she will be an excellent officer; she is already a damn good pilot and XO," Admiral Stryker said cheerfully.

"Then that's settled. And yes I forgot to ask you, how are you feeling?" Admiral Thorn asked grinning.

"Well you did remember after all, you old devil," Admiral Stryker said smiling widely.

"Better late than never," Admiral Thorn said.

...

**Battlestar Vanguard's brig**

Colonel Fisk was given clearance to visit former Admiral Cain two times a week to inform her of recent events in the fleet.

"So, Belzen destroyed twelve baseships using raptors and a black hole. Who would of thought; he's not so dumb after all," Cain said after hearing the report from Fisk.

"Yes, and so far there is no sign of the Cylons. He believes that we will arrive at Avalon in a few months, taking that we don't run into problems," Colonel Fisk said.

"And when do you plan to get me out of this damn brig? I don't plan to rot in here," Cain said.

"I have a plan, but we can't put it in motion yet. A good part of the crew still respects you though Admiral," Colonel Fisk said respectfully.

"You forgot yourself, I am not an admiral anymore thanks to Belzen and that jackass Stryker," Cain said.

"Helena, that jackass currently has the most power in the Colonial fleet and he was backed in his decision by two admirals older than he is; he is not a fool. About the plan, we plan to get you out once we arrive at Avalon," Colonel Fisk said.

"Don't you think that it will be too late for that, knowing that Stryker will execute me when we arrive?" Cain asked.

"Maybe, and maybe not; we can't know that. However, I hear that they plan to put the Pegasus in one of those large docks for a retrofit with only a skeleton crew and docking workers remaining on her. With one fast action we can re-take her and escape. Don't ask me details, we are still working on this," Colonel Fisk said.

"We? Who we are we talking about?" Cain asked.

"Taylor, Jannis, Fossner, and Shaw. I'm afraid Garner is not on our side," Colonel Fisk replied.

"I don't think I will miss him, after all, we have more than enough people. Right?" Cain asked.

"Actually only eight hundred and fifty two, but it will have to be enough," Colonel Fisk said determinedly.

"Inform me of this plans progress, when it's a little more detailed. Now leave me," Cain said dismissively.

"Don't worry, we will get you out. I promise you that. The only question is what we will do once we get the Pegasus," Colonel Fisk said.

"Leave that to me," Cain said confidently.

**Stonecrest Nebula – Antioh system**

The Antioh system was the only system inside the Stonecrest nebula, with a red giant in the center. There were only a few planets, two of them gas giants. The Sword jumped inside the nebula on the edge of the system.

"Jump completed," helm reported.

"Dradis?" Commander Salveng asked.

"All clear," the dradis officer reported.

"This nebula can provide us with a good hiding place if necessary," Colonel Chelys said, "there are at least a dozen moons by those two gas giants."

"What do we know about the planets?" Commander Salveng asked.

"Scanners indicate the two planets are molten rocks, no chance in hell to make colony or base on them, too close to the sun. The third however is a desert planet, like Scorpia. Our probes are just getting into the atmosphere," Colonel Chelys replied.

Colonials equipped their ships to carry atmospheric probes while on exploration missions. The Sword had a full stock of them. As soon as the Sword jumped, the probes were launched in all directions. Since they were the size of a Viper, they were equipped with scanners and a small FTL drive. Similar drives were used on stealthstars.

One of the probe controllers in CIC reported the progress of the probes, "Sir, probe zero seven is entering the atmosphere. Scanning now."

A few seconds passed before the controller continued, "from the data here the atmosphere can support life, but barely. But this isn't the biggest problem; from scans and pictures there are no forests, nor water. The entire planet is a desert."

"You said it has an atmosphere and barely capable of supporting life, how the hell can it do that if there is no water or plants?" Colonel Chelys asked.

"I think I have an explanation sir. I am not one hundred percent sure, but I think there are underground rivers and lakes. There are lots of caverns near the surface, and it is also possible that plants are under the surface in some larger caverns. That is my only explanation," the probe controller said.

"We will leave this to the biologists, geologists and other scientist's when they arrive to explore it; we need to keep moving forward," Commander Salveng said.

"The last planet is a barren rock, nothing on it. About the moons, well there are a variety of them, but none support any kind of life," the same probe controller reported.

...

"They found Magador," the younger man said. They were still following the Sword, since their encounter with it in the Coronet system.

"They are definitely surveying systems around their colony," the older man said.

"But the question remains, why?" the younger man asked.

"I think that question is answered Tiothen, they are probably looking for another planet that supports life. Unfortunately for them, all that they will find is a lot of dead words destroyed by the ancients and harvesters. The planet they found was incredibly lucky. Did we receive any message from the council?" the older man asked.

"No sir, not yet," the younger man called Tiothen replied, but before he was capable of saying anything more a third voice was heard.

"Sir this is the bridge, we are detecting a Harvester presence in the system; actually on the other part of system. From the size and engine emission, it's definitely a destroyer," the voice said.

"This complicates things," the older man said, "the Colonial ship will also detect the ship soon I assume."

"Harvesters will detect them soon, shall we intervene?" Tiothen asked.

"No, not yet, let's see what will happen. This ship carries over eighty fighters, the destroyer has only twelve. And it is not very powerful, I doubt this ship will have problems in destroying it," the older man said.

"But the destroyer has shields," Tiothen protested.

"A few hits from the colonial ship's main cannon will probably break through the shields. We will see. If I am wrong and the colonial ship starts to receive too many hits we will intervene, but not before," the older man said.

"We can stop the destroyer before it even reaches the colonial ship. There will be no casualties if we do that," Tiothen suggested hopefully.

"Indeed we can, but I want to see this ship in action; including their tactics. If the government of the twelve colonies came here and created a colony they will encounter harvesters sooner or later. And knowing our brothers and sisters' stubbornness, there's no doubt they will prevail," the older man said confidently.

...

"Sir we have something on dradis, it's faint but it is definitely not a cosmic object," the dradis officer said.

"Where?" Commander Salveng asked alarmed.

"Coming fast from carom 125, range 3000, it appears it's on an intercept course," the dradis officer replied.

"Is it in range for a visual?" Colonel Chelys asked.

"I believe it is sir," the dradis officer replied.

"Alright then, put it on screen," Commander Salveng said.

Soon the main screen was on and a black ship with grey stripes and red lights was shown. The colonial crew recognized it by its escort of twelve drones as a Harvester ship.

"Sir, I am detecting an energy buildup on the bigger ship. It appears it's getting ready to fire," the weapons officer said.

"How long until it enters weapons range?" Commander Salveng asked.

"At least one minute," the dradis officer said.

"All hands go to condition one; gunnery officers prepare all weapons defensive and offensive for firing. Target the large ship. Alert fighters prepare to engage the enemy fighters. Colonel give the order for a second squadron to be launched as well," Commander Salveng said.

"Right away," Colonel Chelys said.

_No doubt, it is a harvester ship_, Commander Salveng thought to himself. The Colonials didn't recognize the ship design since this was their first encounter with a destroyer type; it was smaller than the large mothership the colonials had encountered before. Black hull, with grey strips and several scary lights on the front: all red, and round like eyes. The ship looked like it had come straight from hell. _But Sword is three times bigger;_ _Harvester or not it will get its ass kicked_. "Let's hope it does," Commander Salveng said quietly after finishing his thoughts.

...

On the observation deck of the ship that was following the Sword, Tiothen and the older man observed the Sword and its preparation for the incoming battle.

"They noticed the destroyer," Tiothen said.

"Indeed and now we can see the power of this ship. Even primitive, this ship is well armed," the older man replied.

"There are no other harvester ships in the vicinity. Only this one," Tiothen said.

"Good, that will give them a chance to win without the fear of enemy reinforcements," the older man said smiling.

...

"All weapons online and locked on target," a weapons officer reported.

"CAG reporting that alert fighters of Alpha squadron and Beta squadron are moving to intercept enemy fighters," Colonel Chelys added.

"Sir, the ship is closing fast. It's entering firing range and it's firing on us," the dradis officer said.

The ship was shaken after being hit by large blue pulses. Heavy armor protected the ship, even as the armor was not created to protect against energy weapons. The armor held, but was pierced here and there.

"Sections twenty to twenty four venting atmosphere," an engineering officer reported.

"Return fire," Commander Salveng ordered.

Massive cannons on the Sword's back started firing. From close range, every shell hit the enemy ship, but was deflected by the blue energy field surrounding the ship.

"My gods, this thing has shields. Energy based defenses," Colonel Chelys said in shock, his eyes bugging out.

"Concentrate all firepower onto one area, fire missiles as well; break the damn thing," Commander Salveng said savagely.

And it worked; every cannon on board the Sword fired at the same area of the ship, together with two dozen missiles that were launched. Even as it was taking fire, Sword maneuvered around to get as many of its guns as possible locked on the enemy ship. The energy shield surrounding the destroyer started collapsing, more and more slugs hitting the same spot over and over until finally the energy field disappeared.

"Shields are down," Colonel Chelys said triumphantly.

"Fire on it with everything we have," Commander Salveng ordered.

It did not need to be said twice, the weapons officer re-coordinated with all guns, and the gun crew fired on the designated target. Each hit tearing apart large pieces of the harvester destroyer, and making large holes in its hull.

Colonial fighters were actually doing more than good, enemy drones were fast and maneuverable but were not so intelligent. They were good when there were lots of them, but those twelve didn't stand a chance against well trained colonial fighter pilots. Three vipers were destroyed, but two pilots survived, and a SAR raptor was sent to pick them up. Only one viper of those three was destroyed together with its pilot.

The Harvester ship tried to fire back damaging the Sword, but not enough to seriously damage the massive Battlestar. It made holes in the Sword's armor, but it didn't penetrate vital areas of the ship. The destroyer tried to retreat from the battle but was struck in the engine section by Sword's main guns, causing a chain reaction and blowing the ship to pieces.

The entire C.I.C. cheered after the battle. They won, but Commander Salveng was not happy, he was ordered to retreat in case harvester ships detected them; not enter into combat, but he failed. He waited long enough and then when he actually thought about retreating it was too late. Still they won. But that was only a destroyer and a few drones. They were lucky, for now.

"Enemy ship destroyed, and all enemy fighters destroyed," Colonel Chelys reported grinning.

"Was there any signal sent from the destroyer or drones?" Commander Salveng asked watching the sensor officer.

"No sir," came the short answer from the sensor officer.

"Good, what are our casualties, and I want a damage report," Commander Salveng said watching the colonel.

"Chief reports minor damage to the engineering section, but sections twenty to twenty four and thirty one to thirty six are open to space, and repair teams are already working to fix as much damage they can. One of the back guns was damaged, but the gun crew survived. As far as casualties, we had luck; four killed, and twenty wounded. Three Vipers destroyed, but two pilots managed to eject and survived; however, the third - Franklin "DogHead" Preston, was unfortunately killed," Colonel Chelys said.

"Send a report about this battle back to Avalon; inform them that we engaged a harvester destroyer, without a chance of escape. Awaiting orders," Commander Salveng said.

"Yes sir," Colonel Chelys said.

...

"Actually I am impressed, it went much better than I thought it would," Tiothen said.

"This was only a destroyer Tiothen, and by its size one of the smaller ones that harvesters usually use in larger groups. It must have been acting as a scout. And they received damage to their hull. If that had been a larger ship they would be in much bigger trouble," the older man said.

"But they succeeded in penetrating the shields, and blowing the ship to pieces, together with its fighters," Tiothen said.

"They had luck, that's all. Let's hope their luck continues to hold. I will now go to my quarters to rest, call me when we receive news from the council," the older man said.

"Yes captain Farben," Tiothen said.

**Day 181 Since the Fall**

**Battlestar Galactica – Admiral's Quarters**

Commanders Belzen, Hastings, and Denson, sat opposite Admiral Adama. Denson had been XO on board Chimera, but during the battle with the Resurrection ship the Chimera received a nuclear missile hit directly onto her head, causing damage, and one part of the C.I.C ceiling fell on the former CO's head killing him instantly. Denson assumed command of the Chimera that same day.

"I know Admiral that you will think that I'm obsessed with the destruction of the Cylon colony, but looking into the future that thing will cause us a lot of problems. From our Cylon guests we had in the main fleet, we have the complete schematics of the colony and her capabilities. And they are extreme to say the least. It's their main manufacturing shipyard. Capable of building three times more ships than their so called mobile shipyard. It is well armed and armored but there is a dead point; its center," Commander Belzen said.

"What do you mean a dead point? With all the weapons on that ship I would hardly call a small middle section the weak part of the ship," Admiral Adama said.

"A first look would say that, yes. However, the entire colony is built around the original ship from the final five. As I already told you they came from Earth, the thirteenth colony, after their world was destroyed by their mechanical Cylons. Our own Cylons must have built all that around it in the past forty years of peace. And now the ship looks like one enormous spider with all those pylons, each armed to the teeth," Commander Belzen explained.

"And how do you propose that we destroy the colony?" Admiral Adama asked.

"There are two ways, and since Commander Hastings made both plans I believe it is his place to explain them," Commander Belzen answered, and nodded to Commander Hastings.

"There is really one plan but two ways to go about it. Hitting from outside with nuclear weapons is not an effective strategy; it would damage the colony but it wouldn't destroy it. It would take an enormous nuke to destroy it from the outside and we don't have one with the needed size. But imagine a firecracker in your hand, if you light it up with your hand open it will explode, but it won't rip your hand out of the arm. There would be burns and traces of black powder, but except the burn and some pain it would heal after some time. But if you put a firecracker in your fist and you close the fist," Commander Hastings said as he closed his own fist in demonstration, "boom, it will explode tearing the entire fist from the rest of the arm."

"You mean somehow planting a nuke inside the colony?" Admiral Adama asked thoughtfully.

"Yes. But as I said before, there are two ways to accomplish this. First if we put a large number of nukes on one Battlestar and ram it into the middle section of the Colony; it could take out the whole damn Colony with it. Of course we would have only a skeleton crew on board the chosen Battlestar. Or there's the riskier and harder way; taking a raptor and slipping through their defenses and entering the main hangar bay of the colony with a strike team, near the reactor," Commander Hastings said.

"You would ram a Battlestar into the colony," Admiral Adama said incredulously, watching Commander Hastings intensely.

"Damn straight I would, if that would destroy the Cylon colony," Commander Hastings said quickly.

"And what about this other option with the Raptor?" Admiral Adama asked.

"The chances for this option are low; thanks to the Cylon prisoners we have some of the cylon codes, but we don't believe we would ever get inside even with the codes. They would shoot us on sight," Commander Hastings replied.

"Yes if they detect the raptor, but what if they can't," Commander Belzen said thinking quickly.

"What are you planning?" Admiral Adama asked curiously.

"We take a raptor, and retrofit it to be a stealth raptor. Then we add two twenty five kiloton nukes, that is fifty in total, and go inside the colony, plant the bombs and get the hell out," Commander Belzen said determinedly.

"Commander, your plan is crazy, you know that. Even if we made a stealth raptor, there are two catches; first how do you plan to hide the radiation of the bombs, and second how do you plan to track the Cylon colony," Admiral Adama said.

"We have our guest on board the Chimera, a Cylon model six, that will help us with that. And I believe we can trust her. If this works we will have put the Cylon colony out of the game. Including the Cylon leader John Cavil," Commander Belzen said.

"I must admit commander, this is an interesting plan, and I will think about it. In the mean time you start working on the details with this plan. Try to find a way to locate the colony. I must speak with the president," Admiral Adama said.

"Understood Admiral," Commander Belzen said.

After that all the commanders left the room. Admiral Adama sat on the couch and grabbed a glass of Ambrosia from the small locker near it. "Damn, Belzen's plans get more and more crazy and dangerous each day," Admiral Adama said to himself and then he took a sip of Ambrosia from the glass.

**Day 189 Since the Fall**

President Roslin was aboard Galactica in the medical ward. Today marked the end of the allotted month Doc Cottle had given her before the cancer accelerated and her time ran out. She had hours to live, in constant pain, though she refused morphine and medicine Doctor Cottle offered in order to remain lucid from time to time. Earlier that day, Doc Cottle had informed the President of the abnormalities of the Cylon-Human hybrid baby of the Cylon Eight model aboard Galactica. Calling Admiral Adama and Doctor Baltar to her bed in the medical ward, she had told them she wanted the Cylon's pregnancy terminated for the safety of the fleet.

Admiral Adama consented to the President's request out of respect for her position as President, but also because it was her dying request. Admiral Adama informed Lieutenant Karl _Helo_ Agathon of the President's order as a courtesy, and Helo had requested to be the one to tell Sharon about it. Sharon immediately showed hostility and started screaming "let them try to take my baby!"

A few hours later, a team of marines and nurses went to Sharon's cell to subdue and sedate her for the trip to the medical ward for the operation. Sharon fought back, and the marines did not have an easy time, but they eventually overpowered and sedated her. She was then moved onto a gurney for transport to the medical ward.

Karl_ Helo_ Agathon stopped the team of marines and Admiral Adama on their way to the medical ward, putting his hand to his gun.

"Admiral, please don't do this," Karl _Helo_ Agathon said.

"Stand down," Admiral Adama said as the marines raised their weapons towards _Helo_.

Admiral Adama walked past the marines to stand in front of _Helo_, "think about what you're doing Helo. You're a soldier," Admiral Adama said.

"I'm a father, like you. Please, sir. Give me a raptor, I'll take her off the ship and get her away from the fleet," _Helo_ said emotionally.

"I can't do that son," Admiral Adama said sadly.

"Admiral! Admiral!" Doctor Baltar said loudly, running down the corridor to reach the Admiral and Helo.

"Doctor, get the hell out of here!" Admiral Adama said.

"Admiral, I must talk to you concerning the Cylon child. It seems I may have been… Wrong, very wrong. When I said that Doctor Cottle misinterpreted the fetal blood," Doctor Baltar said.

Doctor Baltar, Admiral Adama, Helo, Sharon, and the marine guard walked to the medical ward.

**In the Medical Ward, **

**A few minutes later…**

"Understand, Cylon blood is virtually impossible to differentiate from our own. That being said, it has to be slightly different because the Cylon is not human. If our blood looks like this, and the Cylons blood looks like this, then it's fair to assume the Cylon human is carrying an anomaly" Doctor Baltar said demonstrating pictures of the Human and Cylon blood.

"Is this a theory, or a fact," Admiral Adama said.

"The Cylon fetus contains no antigens, it has no blood type. That's what Doctor Cottle was talking about when he said it was damned odd, but it was not damned odd, it's astonishing. Now knowing that the Cylon human counterparts are known for better endurance and capabilities than humans, I wondered if the Cylon fetus could also be blessed, and yes I say blessed, with a heightened resistance to disease. So, I applied a sample of Sharon's fetal blood to some cancer cells from the president," Doctor Baltar said, showing Admiral Adama images of the presidents cancer cells and the cells mixed with the fetal blood.

"What am I looking at?" Admiral Adama asked perplexed.

"Nothing. That's the whole point. The cancer was gone, and it was gone in a matter of hours," Doctor Baltar said.

"Are you saying you found a cure for the president's cancer?" Karl_ Helo_ Agathon asked.

"Well it's untried; it's obviously untried and therefore extremely dangerous, but yes. It's possible. If you abort Sharon's fetus now, we'll never know," Doctor Baltar said.

Minutes later, a syringe of the Cylon baby's fetal blood was injected into the President. The President started shaking violently after the injection, but settled down a minute later.

The President reached for Doctor Baltar moments after waking up, remembering her hallucinated memory of seeing Baltar with a Cylon Six model on Caprica before the attack. She was inadvertently shushed by Doctor Baltar telling her to rest and take it easy.

In a few hours the President was out of the medical ward and the cancer gone from her system, as Doctor Cottle attested to looking at her newest scans while Admiral Adama demanded to know of her condition. She was given the all clear, with her scans showing as completely clear of the cancer.

**Colonial One**

**A few hours later**

"I'd like to thank you for your assistance and knowledge Doctor," President Roslin said.

"It was nothing Madam President," Doctor Baltar said smiling widely at her praise.

"Unfortunately, I must also inform you that you will be stepping down from being Vice President of the colonies, and the quorum will also be dismantled upon our arrival of Avalon," President Roslin said.

"I'm sorry, Madam President?" Doctor Baltar said in confusion.

"When the Cylon attack occurred, I took the office of the presidency under current president Adar's remaining term when he and the rest of the government were killed on the colonies. We left the colonies under the assumption that the 50,000 people in this fleet were more or less all that remained of humanity. Thus, the quorum of twelve as well as your vice presidency were falsely put in place from the votes of only 50,000 people of the colonies, whereas millions of other survivors were at the colonies and heading to the safety of the new colony of Avalon. In accordance with the wishes of Admiral Stryker, former governor of Avalon was put into office as temporary president until our fleet arrives at Avalon. He will be the vice president upon our arrival. Once we arrive; elections will have to begin for a new presidency due to my finishing Adar's remaining term, and then the quorum of twelve and other members of the Colonial government as stated by Colonial law," President Roslin said firmly.

Doctor Baltar stood in silence, looking unhappy, after hearing that. Not knowing what else to say, he asked to be excused to return to his research aboard Galactica. President Roslin nodded her consent to his request and he quickly left Colonial One.

"I know you had a hand in the Cylon attack Baltar, just as I know I will never be able to prove it," President Roslin said to herself quietly, after Doctor Baltar had left.

**Day 190 Since the Fall**

After the President's recovery due to the Cylon child, she had suspended her order for the child's execution. In secret, the President had ordered for the child to have her death faked by replacing her with another dead child's stored remains. The plan would be put in motion when the Cylon completed her pregnancy. The President knew Doc Cottle would not like it, but would follow her orders. A mother to secretly take care of the child was searched for in the meantime with the President's aide – Tory, guiding the search.


	18. 2x06 Death Of The Spider

**Death Of The Spider**

**Galactica Wardroom**

**Day 192 Since the Fall**

Admiral Adama, Commanders Belzen, Hastings, and Lee Adama sat in Galactica's conference room, together with Colonel Fisk and Major Shaw. President Roslin was also participating in this meeting.

"Since we cannot risk losing any of our battlestars, we will go with plan B: we will send a strike team in a stealth raptor to plant a nuke inside the Cylon colony, which is currently in the process of modification in Galactica's hangar," Admiral Adama said.

"Who will lead the team?" Commander Belzen asked.

"Major Shaw," Admiral Adama replied, pointing to Major Kendra Shaw, "Commander Adama recommended that we try to capture another heavy raider from the Cylons, but unfortunately there is no guarrantee that we will succeed. Commander Belzen, you will take the Vanguard and try to locate the Cylon colony. The strike team and raptor will be on your ship. The rest of the fleet will continue towards Avalon."

"It will be done sir," Commander Belzen said sharply.

"You will give every detail to Major Shaw; where and how to place the nuclear warheads to destroy the Cylon colony," Admiral Adama said firmly.

A half hour later the meeting was over. When Commander Belzen stood up and started to leave the room, he was called over by Admiral Adama.

"Do not try and attack the colony with the Vanguard, if the strike team fails you are to re-join the fleet. Is that clear?" Admiral Adama asked staring piercingly at Commander Belzen.

"I hope it wont come to that Admiral," Commander Belzen said stiffly.

"There is no guarantee that this plan will even work, but don't throw away yourself or your ship in a pointless attack. If the team fails, it's over. We will need you commander, don't do anything stupid," Admiral Adama said.

"Rest assured I will follow your orders Admiral," Commander Belzen replied unflinchingly.

...

**Unknown system**

Three baseships slowly glided foward in standard V formation. It was one of the patrol fleets sent by Gary Doral.

The Cylons were getting very close to the Copernicus colony, without having any other option Rear Admiral Turner was forced to engage the Cylons. But attacking only Cylon ships that were close to Copernicus would make the Cylons suspicious of the colony's location, so every ship in the sector was to be attacked.

Suddenly in a bright of flash of light a massive battlestar appeared. It was the Nova, with all her guns pointed at the baseships. Since the ship jumped directly in front of the baseships, it immediatly started firing, launching all vipers as well. Firing her main cannons on the left baseship, the Nova tore it apart with ease before the baseship was able to respond. The remaining two baseships started returning fire, launching every missile they had, including nukes. But the Nova was too close and managed to destroy most of the Cylons missiles with its defensive batteries, some missiles hit the Nova but she continued her attack destroying the second baseship and crippling the third. In less than ten minutes, all three Cylon ships were destroyed and the few surviving raiders jumped away.

It was a victory, a single battlestar versus three baseships, with minimal losses of life on the colonial side. This was the second victory in the last fifteen hours in which five baseships were lost with no colonial ship casualties.

**Copernicus system – Copernicus Colony – Rear Admiral Turner's Quarters**

News reached Rear Admiral Turner fast. He looked down over the Copernicus colony as he thought about the victory against the Cylon fleets, considering how apparent it was that the Cylons were getting closer and closer to finding Copernicus. Prometheus and Nova delivered two new victorys for Copernicus, but they needed more ships right now. The defense force had four battlestars, not counting the old Ares from the first cylon war, and several gunstars. They needed more ships if they wanted to be sure they could stop any direct attack on the colony.

Admiral Turner gave orders for the Lobo negro station to design and build two new battlestars. But it would take a long time before those two ships would be ready for active duty. For now they had to hold, and hope their guerilla style of attack would hold off and damage the Cylons like last time.

**Promar sector, both Cylon and Colonial fleet travelling towards the Terminus sector**

**Battlestar Vanguard off alone doing recon for the attack on the Cylon Colony**

An entire week was needed to finally locate the Cylon colony, but the sight was not nice to see once found; the deadly and enormous spider like ship was surrounded by dozens of baseships and the ressurection hub. Looking over the photos, Commander Belzen asked himself how the hell could his team even succeed with its mission. The colony was too big, and they needed to get the nuclear warheads to one of the central rooms near the main reactors if they wanted to blow the entire damn thing. Thanks to help from the Cylon prisoners, they had schematics for the colony, but even with the schematics helping them along the strike team would have a long distance to cover from the raptor to the optimum area to place the nukes. From the nearest landing platform inside the colony it would take at least four hundred and fifty meters of walking to reach the designated area, with nukes that each were about a ton in heavy weight, and avoiding the Cylon forces along the way. Almost impossible with the nuclear warheads current size and weight, so the plan was re-designed to use smaller tacical nukes that the strike teams could easily carry. If placed in the proper place, the nukes should badly damage or maybe even destroy the colony. Target area was between the two main reactors for the ships engines and power supply. Ironically, there was a missile storage near that place also containing nukes as well that the strike team could highjack for detonation and ensure the colony's destruction with the Cylons own bombs.

Major Shaw saw this as a great advantage; there was no need to place nukes on the designated target place when they could rig them with some nukes in the Cylon missile storage, the chain reaction would consume the ship and possibly destroy the nearby baseships with the extra nuclear war heads adding to the explosion.

Commander Belzen approved the plan, but ordered Major Shaw to send one of their weapons specialists on the strike team. Weapon specialist Corry Tylin, who was an expert on nukes, was chosen for the mission. The Raptor that was chosen for the mission was retrofited, and was now ready to function like a stealth raptor.

Of course Admiral Adama had tested this new stealth raptor first and it had been proven to work perfectly for the planned mission. There were stealth raptors in the main fleet, but none of them was assigned to the fleet lead by Commander Belzen. Admiral Stryker had believed that stealthstars and standard raptors would be more than enough for Vanguard's fleet, and there were only two dozen stealth raptors in the fleet total, all were needed for the protection of the civilian fleet.

Testing the stealth raptors systems; for two days the stealth raptor on board the Vanguard nicknamed "Shadow" followed a Cylon baseship, jumping and flying near the baseship several times undetected.

Major Shaw was chosen to pilot the raptor along with five marines and weapons specialist Tylin. There were two small tactical nukes on board, nukes that needed to be carried to the missile storage on board the cylon colony. They had the schematics, they knew where to go, but Major Shaw knew it wouldn't be easy to get to, the chance that they would survive was less than five percent, or as Lieutenant Barkley leader of the marines shortly said: zero. Nevertheless, each member of the team knew what was at stake; they were ready to die if needed if it meant stopping or at least crippling the Cylons beyond possibility of re-build. The Cylon Colony was the mainframe for all the Cylons; it was needed to create new hybrids, even though the colonials didn't know that the Cylons were slowly starting to build ships not needing a hybrid. Still, the colony had the sample for every human Cylon model, and without her new Cylons of existing models could not be made.

Major Shaw and the rest of her team were armed with heavy guns, capable of disabling centurions as well as skinjob cylons. But she and specialist Tylin were tasked with carrying the warheads to their target, while the rest of the team gave them cover.

Shaw also had a choice; Admiral Adama had asked her if she was willing to take this mission, explaining to her that it was probably a one way mission but she was the best option for the job. She took it without question, after all she was not herself after what happened on the Scylla where she shot innocent people. She was a Razor as Cain called her, after all Cain gave her a razor, a protective sign that Shaw always carried with her. The Razor of death, as some of the Pegasus crewmembers called her. She would never forgive herself for the things she had done. This mission if it means death; would be for the good of all, and offered the chance to reedem herself in the eyes of others.

In the main hangar bay "Shadow" was already ready when Major Shaw approached it, and her team was already inside.

"Carrying the nukes to the missile storage won't be easy, but it is our only chance to cripple or destroy the colony. I would rather bring this ship and ram it into the colony, but the Admiral thinks this is a better plan," Commander Belzen said.

"And it is, Commander. I will do my best; we will destroy the toasters, I promise that," Major Shaw said.

"Then good luck major," Commander Belzen said and saluted her.

"Thank you sir, we will need it," Major Shaw replied, returning his salute, and then entered the raptor. A few moments later and 'Shadow' was already clear of the hangar bay, a few more seconds and the rapter jumped away.

"Blast I hope this will work," Commander Belzen said to himself, "or I just consigned seven people to their deaths."

...

"Shadow" jumped several times before finally finding the colony. In the dark cold of space it was a creepy sight; a large spider looking structure, surrounded by at least a dozen baseships and one large ship - no doubt the hub. Major Shaw turned all lights and systems off, leaving only the thrusters on to attract the least amount of attention possible.

"We are closing in people, lets hope the Cylons aren't looking out the windows," Major Shaw said.

"I calculate that our chances to finish this mission alive are, well, low," Specialist Tylin said quietly.

"You are correct, the chances are low, and I doubt any of us will make it. But we are doing this for all those who died by the Cylons hands and for the good of the fleet we have left," Major Shaw replied and then quietly to herself added _and for redemption._

The Raptor closed the distance between itself and the Cylon Colony fast. There were lots of raiders and heavy raiders on patrol, so the Major was forced to take evasive maunvers more than once. It wasn't a problem to locate one of the large docking tunnels leading to the central docking bay. Once arriving near the tunnel, Major Shaw manuevered the stealth raptor inside. After a short flight inside the tunnel, they finally emerged to a large docking bay; a massive platform with four dozen heavy raiders. Shaw manuvered the raptor to the corner and darkest part of the platform.

"Alright people, we have a job to do. Lieutenant Barkley, you and Sergeants Knox and Willow will be on the rear, while Chelsy and Antei will be in the front. Specialist Tylin and I will carry the warheads," Major Shaw said as the team moved out of the raptor carrying their various weapons and gear.

"Yes ma'am," Lieutenant Barkley replied shortly.

Major Shaw entered the raptor again, and turned on the self-destruct mechanism.

"Let's move people, we have an hour to complete the mission," Major Shaw said as she ran back down the Raptor's ramp.

"Why an hour?" Specialist Tylin asked.

"Because I just rigged the raptor to self-destruct in sixty minutes. If we're lucky and get back in time we may even survive, if not, well at least we will blow the toasters with us. If we haven't been detected already, we will be soon. Move it people," Major Shaw said.

The group moved through the corridors on the way to the larger corridor leading to the missile storage. Shaw prayed that the Cylon prisoners were right and there were nukes stored there; the two smaller ones they carried wouldn't be enough to destroy the ship so if the Cylons were wrong the mission would fail and the strike team would likely be captured or killed.

"Ma'am, I don't understand, how would those nukes even destroy a ship of this size? Isn't the best place for the nukes to destroy the colony by the reactor core?" Lieutnant Barkley asked while they moved slowly through the corridor.

"That was the original plan, but the reactor is well shielded and we would never get that far. If we have luck this may work. Now move," Major Shaw said.

They passed a branch of two tunnels, one left and one right; they chose to go to the right. Major Shaw looked closely at the schematics provided by the cylon prisoner. On the next turn there was a surprise, a skinjob number six approached moving in the direction opposite of them. Major wanted to shoot her, but then realized that she would only download to a new body and would then alert the others of the strike teams presence.

"This way," Major Shaw said. They entered a small room, it turned out to be a storage for small parts - probably for heavy raiders. Some of which were organic. As the blonde cylon passed, they continued toward the room. Chief Tylin asked how the Cylons didn't detect them on approach or inside, but the answer was easy: the Cylons never believed they would be boarded by humans, the original plan to destroy the colonies was to destroy every single human ship, city, and shelter. Even if some survived, it was hard to believe they would ever get inside a Cylon basestar, and the Cylon colony was not even known to the colonials. So adding defensive technology such as internal sensors were not needed. _Terrible mistake_ Major Shaw thought to herself, considering that colonial ships have internal sensors capable of detecting every organic on board. Although, like Cylons, they were not used before. However, around ten years prior to the fall a group of rebels took command of a gunstar and wreaked havoc on Canceron and Tauron before colonial forces managed to engage and destroy the ship. The ship was made by Scorpia shipyards, it was a big mistake by Scorpia yards, and a mistake that never again took place thanks to new technologies like internal sensors which detected every human on board. Of course after the second Cylon war, most of the sensors were shut down; fearing that if the Cylons got possession of the ship, they would be capable of detecting every human on board. But the Cylons used this fear to move on board fleeing ships, and since the human models were in every way human, the sensors didn't see the difference and could have caught them if they were turned on.

Shaw and her team finally arrived at the location of the missile storage facility. However, a new problem emerged; two Centurions stood near the large doors, guarding the missile storage area.

"What now?" Specialist Tylin asked apprehensively.

"Hmm, we don't have time to be stealthy any longer; Antei, Chelsy, clear the enterance," Major Shaw ordered sharply.

The two marines nodded and moved from their cover, targeting with their grenade launchers at the Centurions. Moments later they fired, hitting both Centurions in the head destroying them instantly.

"Clear," one of the marines yelled, and the entire group move forward.

"Sergeant, place charges here and here," Major Shaw said pointing at the places for plastic explosive charges to be placed. Sergeant Antei put both explosives in their places, and nodded at Major Shaw. The group moved to cover and the Sergeant clicked the detonator, blowing the massive doors to pieces. The group quickly moved in, and at first they were shocked at the size of the storage facility - it was one of nine on the entire colony, with large automated arms which loaded and armed the large missile silos of the colony.

Major Shaw gestured to Antei, Knox, and Willow to guard the entrance while the rest of the team moved in. With radiation scanners they found the nukes quickly; a massive pile of them.

"Alright specialist, now its your turn; no doubt the Cylons noticed our explosions and gun fire. We don't have much time, so do your job quickly," Major Shaw said as she gave Tylin her warhead.

"Ma'am, I have some knowledge about missile warheads, I can assist specialist Tylin," Lieutenant Barkely said.

"Alright then, Chelsy with me, lets see if there are more entrances to cover," Major Shaw said.

But there were definitely more of them, it was a huge place - no doubt on that, she knew that, so they need to make a second line of defense quickly.

**Cylon Colony – Command Room**

"An explosion? Where?" John Cavil asked in confusion.

"It appears it came from a corridor near missile storage A7," a number five known as Aaron Doral replied.

"Send someone to check out what's happening there," John Cavil ordered.

But before he could say more, a number six known as Jane entered the room. "I think I can explain what's happening," Jane said.

"Then explain!" Cavil shouted angrily.

She got closer to one of the consoles and connected herself to it. On one of the walls, a screen turned on showing the large docking platform where heavy raiders were stationed. "Look closely at the left side, we noticed this a few minutes ago while in regular control of the heavy raiders," Jane said. As the picture moved, it revealed "Shadow" parked between the wall and a heavy raider.

"That's a colonial raptor," Doral said, "it looks slightly changed, darker."

It was not unusual to have colonial Raptors on board their ships given that they had captured dozens of them from the Colonial worlds.

"Did we have any colonial raptors on board?" Cavil asked.

"Yes we have around eight of them, but all of them are stationed on landing platform beta, there shouldn't be any on gamma," Jane said, "and for sure we don't have one like this, all the others are standard colonial raptors."

"This isn't our raptor, this is current colonial military issue, a stealth one," a number two, known as Leoben Conoy said.

"Stealth raptor? What the hell is happening?" Cavil said angrily beating his fists on the table in front of him.

"It means we have colonial marines on board," Leoben said.

"How the hell did they get past our defensive fleet, and all those raiders on patrols? Not to mention our patrols inside the ship itself. And where are they?" Cavil asked.

"That question at least, is easy to answer. They are in missile storage A7, I just recieved a message from the hub; two Centurions are in the process of resurrection and no doubt those two were guarding the missle storage," Jane said.

"Send centurions there, wipe out the human pests. And I want answers on how they managed to get where they are undetected to all our sensors," John Cavil ordered.

"I will send a team to examine the Raptor, we may be able to crack open their stealth technology. As for how they walked around on the colony without detection; well thats your fault, we never installed internal detection sensors," Leoben replied.

"They were never needed," Aaron Doral added,"we never considered the possiblity that humans could find the colony and board it."

"Blast it, whose idea was that?" John Cavil asked.

"Yours," Doral said simply.

...

Inside the storage facility, Specialist Tylin and Lieutenant Berkley wired several of the cylon nukes together; some of them 25Mt and 50Mt nukes. Tylin had an idea to connect as many as possible, believing that the small portable warheads they brought on board would make a small electricity charge automaticly arming all the other nukes. Once the smaller ones exploded, all the others would explode at the same time.

Major Shaw recieved an urgent message from Sergeant Antei, "Ma'am we have company, huge number of Centurions and some skinjobs attacking."

"Hold them as long as you can, then retreat to our location," Major Shaw replied, but was cut off from saying more when cylon centurions started coming from another location, she and sergeant Chelsy opened fire on them.

Barely five minutes later sergeants Antei and Knox withdrew from the entrance and set down near the large wall to start providing covering fire. Lieutenant Barkley switched sides with Shaw and open fired on the other side, while Shaw moved over to take cover near Antei.

"Where is Willow?" Major Shaw asked Antei, leaning towards him so he could hear her over the gunfire from the firefight.

"He's dead, ma'am. We shot a few of them, including two skinjobs, but they kept coming and coming," Antei replied. Before she could respond, Shaw heard a small beep from her belt - it was the detonator controller for the Raptor.

"Cylons discovered the raptor, they tried to open it," Major Shaw said, and as she said that, she opened the small panel on the top of the remote detonator and pressed the red button. The Raptor exploded inside the hangar bay, killing all cylons nearby. The team felt the explosion even from their extreme distance away from the Raptor. "It's over now," she said.

"But ma'am, how do we escape now?" Sergeant Knox asked, and Sergeant Antei quickly answered, "we won't," Sergeant Antei said shortly.

**Colony Control Room**

"The Raptor just exploded, it seems it was rigged," Doral said.

"I want those parasites killed now," John Cavil said seething with rage, and then it hit him, "my gods they're trying to rig the whole damn missile storage."

"Not possible, their technology is not compatible with ours," Doral replied.

"Don't underestimate them brother," Leoben said.

"Stop them, send every centurion on board there, I want them killed before they can do more damage," John Cavil ordered.

...

One by one centurions fell, the heavy weapons the colonials brought with them were highly effective. But there were costs for the centurions downed; Willow was dead, Chelsy was badly wounded, and even Lieutenant Barkley was hurt.

"Ma'am, I'm done. All of them are rigged, at least in this compartment," Specialist Tylin said.

"Can they destroy the colony?" Major Shaw asked while firing at the centurions.

"They will blow everything in this section; with their combined force, they will destroy one or even two thirds of the ship. If hit from the outside this colony can take lots of nukes, but from the inside it would be torn apart - if we are lucky, the whole colony can be destroyed assuming everything goes right," Specialist Tylin said.

"Good. Lieutenant, can we break through?" Major Shaw asked looking at Lieutenant Barkley.

He looked at her, knowing that they couldn't - they would be dead before they could even leave the storage room, so he shook his head no.

"Then we will launch it now, this was our mission and we will complete it," Major Shaw said determinedly. Lieutenant Barkley realized what she was planning to do and nodded in approval. However Sergeant Chelsy was shot and killed moments later.

Shaw took the remote from Specialist Tylin, and pressed the button.

**Colony Control Room**

"Energy buildup out of scale in storage room A7," Leoben said when suddenly the entire ship shook so hard that everyone fell to the ground.

"They detonated the nukes," Aaron Doral said.

"To the escape raider now," John Cavil said.

Explosions started spreading throughout the rest of the ship and more and more explosions rocked the ship, each one stronger than the last. The Cylons ran toward a small platform near the control room where heavy raiders for emergencies were; fires and explosions rocked all around them, one of which killed Jane and one of the Doral's. They managed to arrive at the small landing pad, when larger explosions rocked the ship again.

"It must be one of the reactors; it's spreading, we must get out of here," Leoben said. And he was right, as Tylin predicted the explosion of so many nukes in one place destabilized the nearest reactor, which exploded causing even more damage to the sourroundings; more and more of the ship exploded as the nuclear shockwave spread its fury.

The Cylons lead by Cavil entered the heavy raider and they escaped the platform just moments before the entire section exploded. As they moved toward the hub that was a relativly safe distance away; the colony behind them suddenly exploded in a bright ball of fire, consuming a half dozen basestars that were closest to it. The heavy raider was caught in a shockwave from the blast and spun out of control for a few brief minutes that seemed infinitely longer. The only thing remaining of the colony were large chunks of debris.

"Contact the hub, we are landing there," Cavil yelled. The pesky humans not only managed to avoid detection, they managed to enter the colony and destroy it. This was the final insult by the colonials.

"What do we do now John?" one of the surviving sixes asked. "We didn't even have time to evacuate the colony. And from the nuclear blast of this magnitude, I don't believe more than ten or fifteen percent will resurrect."

"They didn't die in vain. We will go back to colonial space. I have to have a little talk with my dear brother. First a small fleet of colonial ships that was supposed to be destroyed or captured showed up with Galactica, then we lost one third of the fleet by a colonial trick with that black hole, and now we've lost the colony. Something tells me that there is more going on back home than we thought. This is not over," John Cavil said.

The Cylons remained in their location for weeks to commence slavage operations on their damaged baseships and raiders. Downloads on the Ressurection ship also took weeks, with some downloads corrupted and their deletion enforced – while others faield to download entirely. Some 80-85% of casualties from the attack on the colony failed to download successfully.

**Battlestar Vanguard C.I.C.**

**Day 200 Since the Fall, not long after Colony's destruction**

"Sir, our long range sensors detected massive nuclear explosions and a few minutes later it was followed by another much larger one. I believe the colony has been destroyed," Colonel Magene said.

"Any sign of our team?" Commander Belzen asked.

"No sir, and I doubt any of them made it out," Colonel Magene replied sadly in a low tone.

"I want a stealthstar sent there, I want to be sure that the colony is destroyed," Commander Belzen ordered.

"Yes sir, it will be done," Colonel Magene said.

Minutes later, the stealthstar returned and confirmed the destruction of the Colony and also about ten baseships destroyed in the assault. With this knowledge, and that the strike team was gone, Commander Belzen ordered the Vanguard to return to the fleet heading toward Avalon.

**Day 210 Since the Fall of the colonies**

10 weeks ago Ray Abinell had perished aboard the freighter Greenleaf, during a Cylon raider attack on the freighter. Sesha Abinell had created a hostage situation aboard Cloud Nine with the help of several other conspirators, hoping to force Admiral Adama to bring the captured Cylon model number Eight aboard the Galactica to be killed on Cloud Nine. Commander Lee Adama, Petty Officer Second Class Anastasia "Dee" Dualla, Presidential aide Billy Keikeya and several others were taken hostage aboard Cloud Nine, having been off duty aboard Cloud Nine for R&R.

**Battlestar Galactica, Admiral's Quarters**

"I'm interested in navigational weaknesses; wormholes, darkmatter blindspots, possible ambush areas," Admiral Adama said.

"I would avoid these pulsar pointers because of dradis interference. If I was gonna plan an ambush, I'd do it there," Sharon Eight said, pointing at a starcluster map for Admiral Adama to see.

"It depends Admiral. They adapt to your every move. Every move triggers a coutnermove," Sharon said.

"Adapt? That's what you're good at right?" Admiral Adama said rhetorically, not expecting an answer.

"Why won't you answer my question? Does the fleet know that I'm on Galactica?" Sharon asked, and then put her hand on her stomach as the baby was kicking.

"The fleet knows. That'll be all for today," Admiral Adama said, and Sharon was escorted back to her cell by the marine guard.

Admiral Adama had been visiting Sharon every so often for advice and to talk about the Cylons. Not long after exiting his quarters and seeing Sharon, Admiral Adama recieved the message from Sesha Abinell about the hostage taking on Cloud Nine.

Lieutenant Kara_ Starbuck_ Thrace tried to takedown the hostage takers unsucessfully by using the oppurtunity of the CO2 scrubbers malfunctioning by Captain Adama's handiwork. One of the hostagetakers was shot and killed, as were two marines who followed _Starbuck_ inside. Commander Lee Adama was also shot, by friendly fire from _Starbuck_.

Admiral Adama arranged for the hostages release in return for the dead body of Sharon Valerii. The dead body of Boomer was used instead of the Sharon on Galactica, unknown to the hostage takers. While Sesha Abinell was focused on shooting the dead body of Boomer, a team of marines moved into the room to takedown the hostage takers. All three terrorists, including Sesha Abinell, were shot and killed by marines. Billy Keikeya was also shot in the chaos while helping to distract one of the terrorists from firing his gun.

**Day 270 Since the Fall**

Hera Agathon was born approximately one month premature.

President Roslin moved her plan into motion to claim the child and replace her with the remains of another child, and then to give Hera to a foster mother in secret. Commander Belzen found out about the plan through one of his stationed guards on Galactica overhearing a conversation between Tory and Cottle that raised the Commander's suspicions, after which he confronted Doc Cottle who gave in and told him everything. Commander Belzen confronted the President and sidetracked her plan. Commander Belzen knew Admirals Stryker and Adama would not accept the President's plan if they knew, and if the Cylons ever caught wind of it their alliance with their Cylon guests in the fleet returning to Avalon would likely be over. The plan was quickly cancelled with Doc Cottle obeying Commander Belzen's orders in lieu of the President's, and the President backed down after that. In time even she agreed the Cylon alliance and cooperation was too important to risk losing. Hera remained in her parents care.

**Between Days 360-400 Since the Fall**

Commander Lee Adama and Anastasia Dualla married and remained stationed on Pegasus together. Sharon and Karl Agathon married and remained aboard Galactica.

Admiral Adama met with Sharon frequently to discuss the Cylons, over time she earned his trust given the help she had given the fleet. Admiral Adama accepted Sharon Agathon's pledge of loyalty to the fleet and a personal promise to the Admiral, and she was commissioned into the Colonial Fleet as a Lieutenant, quickly earning the callsign _Athena_. Many were not happy with this, but most gave _Athena_ leeway given the Admiral's decision and the knowledge of _Athena's_ actions thus far in the fleets protection.

_Athena _herself asked how Admiral Adama knew she wouldn't betray him , and he replied that he didn't,"but that's what trust is."

_Athena_ helped Chief Tyrol analyze the captured heavy raider, and they placed the Nav computer, or basically the brain, of the heavy raider aboard a raptor to test mixing its technology with one of their raptors. They found that they could immensely shorten the amount of jumps needed to jump between a large number of locations in a combat situation. They documented this infoand gave it to Admiral Adama, who in turn wanted a report on it readied for Admiral Stryker upon their arrival at Avalon.

**Months after the Destruction of the Colony**

The Cylon fleet was stuck at their location waiting for their damaged ships to complete necessary repairs, and their ressurection hub took an extended time to try to complete downloads of those who died in the attack on the Colony, though only a small percentage successfully downloaded.

Once repairs were completed and the downloads ended, the Cylon fleet started jumping slowly back towards the colonies to meet up with the rest of their fleet there. It would take several months to arrive given some of their ships were still damaged and limping slowly along. Jumping along faster and arriving at the colonies would've required abandoning the damaged baseships.


	19. 3x01 Arriving to New Home

**Arriving to a New Home**

**Mobile Shipyard Eternity – En Route to Avalon**

**Admiral's Log**

_It's been almost eleven months since our journey from the colonies started. Many months have passed now since my last update and many things have happened. I'll start at the beginning._

_After we started our long journey to Avalon following the battle on Picon, we found out that someone was transmistting our location using a signal burst that after almost an entire month of searching was found on board one of our transport ships. Things were even weirder when we found the machine that created the signal bursts was operated by a man, from all the Cylon profiles we've collected he was not a cylon, however there was something strange about him. We put him in one of the cells on board Eternity and convinced one of our cylon guests to see if she could help us with identifying the unknown man. She didn't recognize him, but she warned us that existing cylon models may have used surgical changes to themselves to blend in with humans; since we know all of their models faces except the final five which are believed to be with Galactica's fleet, something that we didn't know when we sent Commander Belzen on his journey._

_After a series of scans we finally found proof that it was a Cylon, more precisely one of the number five copies. No doubt his mission was to transmit the signal burst so a Cylon ship would follow us at a safe distance to find Avalon. I dispatched the Stealth ship Banshee to find and destroy ship the ship that was following us. It didn't take them long to find a Cylon patrolstar, and the ship was destroyed, but I was still not convinced that the Cylons sent only a single ship to follow us. There had to be more I thought, but the Banshee was unable to find any. For now I have ordered her to stay in stealth mode and scout behind us in search of more Cylon ships._

_There were a few other things that I should have added a long time ago to this log, but with all the work and recovery therapy I've had, I haven't had time so I made notes to put it all in order now._

_Work on the Atlantis is going so nicely that I can barely recognize her, and once finished she will be one hell of a ship to take on. All other ships that were damaged have been repaired and put back into service. Battlestar Trinity's repairs, Battlestar Phoebe's refit, and Battlestar Sleipnir's construction were completed. The six Destroyers reclaimed just before Operation Firestorm being repaired aboard Eternity were completed, and they were put into the fleet shortly after. Of the salvageable wrecked Battlestars from Caprica and Picon; 9 battlestars were completely repaired, with the others being scrapped and used to repair and refit our other Battlestars. Using the scrapped Battlestars, several Battlestars had their armaments doubled in cannons, point defense, and missle launchers; Battlestars Pleiades, Poseidon, Caprica, Independence, Titan, and Rycon. Of the remaining salvaged wrecks of miliatary ships from Caprica and Picon; 10 gunstars, 5 destroyers, 5 heavy cruisers, 5 battlecruisers, 5 lightcruisers, 4 strikestars, 4 firestars, and 4 escortstars were completely repaired and crewed – with the remainder being scrapped from heavy damage and used to repair the others. Thousands of recruits from volunteers in the fleet have been trained and mixed among veteran personnel throughout the fleet. All viper and raptor wing squadrons have been replenished along with the latest load of pilot recruits, though the pilots will still need extensive training with veteran pilots in order to to take on an actual combat situation._

_Unity and Eternity's main docks are almost finished with the two new heavy Battlestars. However construction of those two ships hasn't passed without problems; Delegate Campus as usual tried to convince the general public that the military was spending too many resourcess building new ships for the fleet and that the civilians were getting nothing. There were reports of multiple thefts, beatings, robberies, and other forms of crime rising on ships to the point that the military was forced to intervene. We created a police force consisting of civilians who had military or any other kind of professional experience that allowed them to carry and use firearms. _

_Unfortunately Delegate Campus and a few others started revolting, which ended with Campus and two other delegates being confined to their quaters with armed guards on their doors. I wanted to put them into a cell, but the other admirals believed public opinion would probably go in Campus' favor if he was locked up. For now, the problem known as delegate Campus is over._

_About Belzen and his mission, there have not been any kind of messages, but that's understandable. I hope they find Galactica and bring her to Avalon safely. I haven't had any more visions created by Athena. No matter how much I want to believe it was only a dream, it wasn't. I ordered some old ships that were sitting on Hera station and the lower docks on Eternity and Unity to be scrapped, they were useless but their materials can be used for repairs of other ships and to make new ships._

_We are closing on Avalon, and I believe we will arrive in a week. But I am still worried about the safety of the fleet. Given that we entered into unknown space full of those drones-harvesters I ordered all ships to work with minimal power with the exceptions being life support, gravity, FTL engines and limited scanners. To ensure that we do not have gaps in dradis and sensor networks, around fourty raptors outfitted with scanning modules were launched and deployed around the fleet creating a protective ring. If anything tried to jump into range, it would be detected to give us a warning. For now it works, I hope it will work until we get to Avalon._

_Lieutenant Brentonm, one of the officers on board Olympia, presented me with his idea and schematics for a new space superiority fighter. A fighter which will no doubt reinforce, if not replace, Vipers; especially the older versions. Vipers with FTL drives are also being tested and created aboard the R&D section to match the Cylon Raiders, and possibly give our fights the ability to jump from in front of Cylon Raiders to right behind them, or otherwise be able to escape enemy fire. A replacement for our Raptors is also being researched aboard R&D, to hopefully better match up against the Cylon Heavy Raiders with several heavy KEWs and rapid fire missile launchers aboard like the Heavy Raiders. The Heavy Raider Kathy and Leoben brought to the fleet is being looked over to help with this research._

**End Log**

After finishing his log, Admiral Stryker took a sip of Ambrosia in the glass near him and then slowly stood up, finally healed of his injuries he slowly walked until he came closer to the large picture of his family.

"If you were only here, to see where I've come to, that little cadet you knew," Admiral Stryker murmured quietly, thinking of his lost family.

A few minutes later he heard knocking on the door.

"Come in," Admiral Stryker said.

The door opened and Admiral Thorn walked in.

"Well you old devil I haven't seen you in two days, what are you up to this time?" Admiral Stryker asked.

"I was busy with the research division. And I have very good news for you," Admiral Thorn replied smiling.

"Go on," Admiral Stryker said, intrigued.

"You are well aware of the colonial antimatter technology devlopment; new engines that would allow us to jump almost anywhere, or at least at a much much faster rate, without a need for recharging the jump drive. While the engines would also give enough energy for the entire ship and all of its systems," Admiral Thorn said.

"I am aware, but we both know what happened to Sanctuary; that ship's engine was full of glitches, it was a miracle that the crew, well most of them, survived that blind jump," Admiral Stryker said.

"Indeed, however the people in the reaserch department created a prototype that works, which we installed upon Theseus some time ago. We've been jumping quite a bit on our way to Avalon, and so far the new engines are working perfectly according to the proper engine design Sanctuary was originally suppsoed to get. As you remember, she had the schematics for her engines changed before her launch for a cheaper design according to Adar's wishes from an engineer working under the original designer for the anti-matter reactor: and clearly the new design failed miserably. The original design is working perfectly though and we've begun testing its capabilities on Theseus. And with your premission it will be installed on Atlantis," Admiral Thorn said.

"You want to install a piece of technology that is still a prototype on my ship? Are you mad?" Admiral Stryker asked angrily.

"The engines and the reactor that we are putting in are needed if you want all of those new toys to work; those pulse cannons need lots of energy, and not to mention that new armor which is powered by energy as well," Admiral Thorn said.

"I wanted normal battle armor on my ship, but you and your engineers convinced me that the new armor would be much stronger and more resilient. That it would be able to withstand a direct nuclear hit even from the enormous megaton nuclear missiles the cylons have - like what they used on Atlantis before," Admiral Stryker said.

"Yes, and you agreed did you not? You wanted that for Atlantis since it's the fleet's flagship and remains the strongest ship in the fleet, with the most advanced technology. That's what we are doing, outfitting the ship with the most advanced tech we have. We have spent enormous efforts and resources for it, and we need a ship to test more of the new equipment: what better choice is there other than Atlantis?" Admiral Thorn asked.

"I still don't like it. I don't want that on my ship on its first after-rebuild voyage. I do not want to risk Atlantis disappearing like Sancutary," Admiral Stryker said.

"And it won't, we checked and double checked all possiblities. Hundreds of tests and simulations all ending with it working as expected, if not better. You know as well as I do that the Cylons will never leave us alone. They will find us, and if not them, then those Harvester's will. We need this, and if it proves to be a sucess it will be installed in every ship in the fleet," Admiral Thorn said.

"Hmm, fine, but if something happens to my ship and its crew, you'll be responsible,"Admiral Stryker said.

"I'l take all responsibility for it if needed, but I assure you it will work. Even Admiral Sounders wants the new engines on Rycon," Admiral Thorn said.

"Hah, that doesn't suprise me, Rycon is still running on her original engines: it's amazing after all these decades that they still work," Admiral Stryker said grinning.

"So you agree to allow the new engines to be installed then?" Admiral Thorn asked.

"Yes, continue with the work on my ship and put those new engines on board. Anything else?" Admiral Stryker said.

"As usual, Delegate Campus demands to see you," Admiral Thorn said.

"He can demand all he want, after that little coup he tried I say let him stay closed in his quaters for a little while, to cool himself off a little," Admiral Stryker said coldly.

"And yes, I almost forgot, do you know about my little project on board the Unity?" Admiral Thorn asked.

"That new ship that you are building in complete secrecy, refusing to speak about it with anyone," Admiral Stryker said.

"Well I know that you would probably say it's a waste of time and resouces..." Admiral Thorn said drifting off.

"On the contrary, I want to see what you are up to now. Building a ship in less than three months was damn impressive. By the way what kind of ship did you build?" Admiral Stryker asked.

"It's a new kind of ship, a combatcruiser. Created for one purpose, and one purpose only: combat. It's eight hundred meters long. The entire ship is in one piece, not centered like battlestars on head, pylons, main body, engine block... It was made in one piece, with a head similar to the battlestar alligator style but more in the shape of those ancient lizzards. The engine block is fused into the body with four thrusters, two on each side, plus two additional in center. The entire ship is well armored and armed. With about eighty point defense pulse cannons for close range defenses. Fourty missile launchers that are capable to launch a swarm of any kind of missile depending on need; anti-ship, anti-fighter, even anti-missile interceptor missiles. Of course the ship possesses ten missile silos for nuclear warheads, however we haven't added nukes yet at this time," Admiral Thorn said.

"So far you've got my full attention, but I don't understand what did you put in if not nukes?" Admiral Stryker asked.

"As you know, nuclear missiles upon impact release radiation, especially after breaching armor, however there really isn't too much of a benefit used against Cylons since they simply download to new bodies. Of course the higher the kilotons of missiles used, the higher the chances that cylons won't download. Centurions are not really affected by radiation as well. We wanted something new; less obvious than a nuke, and we did it, we developed two kinds of projectile weapons. They are still being tested, but they will be implemented into the new classes of ships and all our other ships," Admiral Thorn said.

"Wait, wait how the hell did you initiate a test, when we haven't stopped anywhere. If you are creating a new weapon you need a test field, right?" Admiral Stryker asked.

"Not necessarily, but it would be of great use if we had one to see the devastation and effects in real time, but we used what we had, so we did only computer simulations," Admiral Thorn said.

"Simulations? And you plan to add weapons that are still entirely in the test phase?" Admiral Stryker said.

"They are working perfectly," Admiral Thorn said.

"Yes, but computer generated simulations are not the same as the real thing," Admiral Stryker said.

"I know, but half of the technology we now have were not properly tested in the times when they were invented," Admiral Thorn said.

"I am not sure that I want some un-tested weapons on my ships, and what if they failed in combat? We have to test those new toys of yours first," Admiral Stryker said.

"Agreed, but where? We are less than a week of travel from Avalon, and this area of space isn't safe, you know well why. If we start testing now, we may get ourselves into deep trouble. And even when we arrive at Avalon testing could be dangerous. But I assure you we can use them, they are perfectly safe," Admiral Thorn said.

"When the time comes we will see about that, now continue," Admiral Stryker. 

"Alright. As I said before, there are two types of weapons, which also can be used in both missile and torpedo designs. The antimatter torpedo was one of those two weapons. Torpedos are larger and sluggish, but much more powerful than missiles. And antimatter ensures that whatever it hits remains in pieces after the blast, no radiation residue, no danger from it, however the boom is larger than a nuclear blast and more concentrated," Admiral Thorn said.

"Antimatter, we've barely scratched the surface on that field of technology and you made it into a weapon? Also, why torpedos, they haven't been in service for over fifty years?" Admiral Stryker said.

"First, it would be unstable to put antimatter, even a few micro-grams, into a missile's housing. However torpedos are better shielded and larger, enough to place an entire mechanism inside. We also found that if we add some crystals, like Abyros, it makes the antimatter much safer, and we already can produce about fifty grams of it on our main reaserch facility aboard Olympia," Admiral Thorn said.

"Which is enough for torpedos but not enough for a battlestar engine," Admiral Stryker added.

"True, but a few grams of it in each torpedo would equal the force of at least 200 kilotons from a nuclear warhead. However we have other ways for the ship engines, so don't worry about that," Admiral Thorn said.

"And the other weapon?" Admiral Stryker asked.

"Fusion missiles. Purley a kinetic weapon, capable of hitting the target with a large force but concentrating the damage into the place of impact. Depending on settings it can burrow itself in the enemy ship and explode, or explode on impact; either way, in swarm they can obliterate a Cylon baseship in seconds. They are faster than our standard anti-ship missiles, so there is a better chance of avoiding enemy defense fire. They are also highly modular, depending on the mission a special warhead can be added; EMP, high explosive, or even corossive," Admiral Thorn said.

"Corossive?" Admiral Stryker asked.

"We still don't have those, but in theory once the weapon burrows itself into the hull, it explodes and starts melting everything metal within fifty meters around itself," Admiral Thorn said.

"That would be a nasty surprise for the Cylons, or harvesters," Admiral Stryker said.

"Indeed. Fusion missiles were designed to work in swarms, and they use a system of friend or foe. Since we would add Cylon engine exausts into their small nav computer once launched, depending on the target, they will stay on the target until they are destroyed or they destroy the target. They are cheaper than current missiles. Also the ship will have fourteen heavy kinetic turrets, purely long range anti-ship weapons. With four being intergrated into the foward section of the ship. There are also additional weapons that we orginally planned to install; such as a plasma heated beam capable of melting everything, and even piercing energy based shields in theory," Admiral Thorn said.

"Originally?" Admiral Stryker asked.

"Well we haven't developed a prototype yet, but with all the other weapons on board this new battlecruiser, there isn't a need for it," Admiral Thorn said.

"So, well protected with a powerful armored hull and energy armor, and well armed, plus fast and manuverable for it size, it may even retire gunstars from defense positions," Admiral Stryker said.

"Yes, but the ship doesn't carry any fighters in it," Admiral Thorn said.

"No fighters?" Admiral Stryker asked astonished.

"No, because they are not needed. There is a dock on the right flank, but for shuttles, and support ships. It is capable of carrying up to seven or eight fighters, but there are no facilities on board for their maintanence. Only shuttles, and possibly small gunships, but nothing more. It's purely for combat; not to work as battlestars do - carrier and battleship in one," Admiral Thorn said.

"How long till this prototype is built and what name did you give it?" Admiral Stryker asked.

"It's almost complete, and the name of the prototype is Audacious," Admiral Thorn said.

"Strong name for a strong ship. Have you thought of who you will put in charge of it?" Admiral Stryker asked.

"As a matter of fact I did: your sister," Admiral Thorn said.

"My dear sis, but she..." Admiral Stryker said drifting off into silence.

"She's proven herself many times and she is a fine colonial officer; there is noone better than her, and from what I've heard she likes tough ships so this is the perfect spot for her," Admiral Thorn said.

"Hm, yeah she's gonna like it alright. Alright then, you have my permission. I want to see that ship out in space as soon as possible. And if possible a few more of them," Admiral Stryker said.

"It will be done, but the ship won't be launched for the next two weeks," Admiral Thorn said.

"Good, is there anything else?" Admiral Stryker asked.

"No, thats all," Admiral Thorn said.

**Cylon mobile shipyard**

At one of the viewing windows Jack stood watching the new classes of ships that were being built, some of which were already finished and ready to lauch. He smiled silently, his plan worked, they managed to convert every new baseship to colonial standards with no need for hybrids anymore. They would be less functional, but far more powerful.

The next time he meets Admiral Stryker, he'd defeat him, and destroy what was left of humanity. He wouldn't fail again. But he was also thoughtful, there was something bothering him. A few months ago they had lost the signal from the colony ship.

The colony ship had a burst-data device that activated a faster than light energy burst toward Cylon space, more precisely hitting the large transmitting satellite. However it had stopped broadcasting.

To Jack it meant two things, three actually. The colony had been destroyed, how and where not known. Attacked by alien races and boarded, less likely. Or gone too far for the signal to reach back. Ultimately, he could not know what had happened, and he may never find out.

There was one happy thought; if the colony really was destroyed John was probably killed and would probably not be a threat to him again. Some of the other Cylons wanted to send ships to search for the Colony, but he refused on the grounds that sending ships was a waste of resources. No, it was better to concentrate on ship construction and launch one big assault on the remaining colonial forces. It had proved to be a good idea that he moved the baseship following the colonial fleet, as the patrolstar following the fleet was destroyed. It was too dangerous to have it to follow so close to the colonials. That bloody stealthship Banshee was a pain in the ass, but all he can hope was that the baseship would survive long enough to pinpoint the colony. Nevertheless it would take at least another year before the new fighting force was ready and gods only knew what suprises Admiral Stryker will have. But Jack also had a few suprises of his own. The Colonials would never expect a new kind of ship, and the Adonis is just what he needs; well armed, armored and manuverable. It lacked the scores of raiders of the other baseships, but who cares, they can jump on their own anyway having enough tanker ships with the fleet and they wouldnt have problems. And of course if that moron Gary didn't lose that dreadstar, he would have his command ship during the final assault on that colony of theirs.

Jack was disturbed from his thoughts when one of the number two cylons came up to him from behind.

"What is it?" Jack asked, not even looking at the newcomer behind him.

"Report from Gary," the number two said shortly and darkly

"From the tone of your voice, Gary failed again, right?" Jack asked.

"I wouldn't call it a total failure, but yes he failed again. Four baseships destroyed, two crippled; Admiral Turner launched a surprise assault with stealthstars which crippled another two baseships and moderately damaged the dreadstar, but the ship is operational," the number two replied.

"Failure is still failure; he lost four baseships and another four crippled, thank the gods he had that resurrection ship, or, did he lose the resurrection ship again?" Jack asked angrily.

"Thankfully he didn't, he had six baseships guarding in tight formation around the ressurection ship. He tried to make the dreadstar a main target for Admiral Turner, however Turner didn't attack, so both of his Novas were untouched. And we still dont have any idea where his colony is," the number two said.

"Wonderful," Jack said, continuing to watch outside where the ships were being built.

"I am sure he will eventually find Turner. Also upgrades on those old Hades are going nicely, they will be ready soon. However even with upgraded weaponry, engines, and armor they won't stand a chance against colonial battlestars," the number two said.

"Hmm, that's not their purpose at all, their purpose is to convince the colonial's that they are our main attack force; that we've lost too many of our new baseships and we desperately want to destroy them with the ships we have left. Of course we will add a few new baseships so that they do not become too suspicious. But first things first," Jack said.

"Even when they reach the colony, we can't wait too long or they will make defenses, they won't allow themselves to be caught by surprise like last time," the number two said.

"Of course they wont, and for sure our old strategy of sending in spies won't work either. No, it will be one last attack, with everything we've got. If we fail, we will be destroyed. Our resources are thin, no matter what kind of mining and resources gathering we do. The Colony was the heart of Cylon, without it we must do what we can. We can't create new versions of human-form Cylons, neither an we build new Centurions. However, the good thing in all this is that we still have over five hundred thousand centurion minds stored, and even without the Colony we can build less advanced Centurions programmed to kill humans. We won't lack in centurions. For now continue with ship building and upgrades on existing ships. Also how is work going on project Corsair?" Jack asked.

"Excellent, the first field tests were promising," the number two replied.

"Good, continue with it," Jack ordered.

The number two left, and Jack returned to his thoughts. No matter what or how long it took he would destroy the humans: something that John didn't succeed in doing in the first place.

...

**Seven days later...**

"Welcome Admiral," Admiral Thorn said when Admiral Stryker entered the Olmypia's CIC.

"Are we ready to commence the last jump Admiral?" Admiral Stryker asked.

"Yes, all ships are ready. We recieved a message from Commander Krasner. The Battlestar Sword and two gunstars were sent to the edge of Avalon's perimeter to greet us," Admiral Thorn replied.

"Good. Commence jump in proper procedure, we don't want any accidents, not now," Admiral Stryker said.

"First group confirms they're ready for jump, second group ready, and finally third group ready too," the comms station officer reported over the next few minutes, calling out when each group was ready.

"Tell the first group to jump in ten seconds, and each following group ten seconds later," Admiral Stryker ordered.

"Right, countdown now," Admiral Thorn said.

One of the officers started the countdown; ten seconds, nine, eight, until finally hitting zero and the first group jumped away. They reappeared in front of the Battlestar Sword and two escorting gunstars. Battlestar Rycon leading the first fleet.

"Signal recieved, the first group is clear," the comms officer said.

"Alright prepare second group," Admiral Thorn said.

Once again the ten second countdown passed and the second wave of ships disappeared. Minutes later the second signal was recieved.

"They are in," the comms officer reported.

"Well it appears it's our time, whenever you are ready Admiral," Admiral Stryker said.

"Alright Unity, Eternity, Oylmpia and remaining ships are ready for jump, ten second countdown. Now!" Admiral Thorn said.

"Ten, nine, eight, seven, six, five, four, three, two, one, jumping!" the comms officer said.

Moment later the remaining ships, shipyards and stations appeared behind the rest of the fleet.

"Jump complete, we are right at our programmed coordinates," the comms officer said.

The entire CIC burst into applause, laughter, and joy; after so long they had finally arrived to their new home. It was a burst of emotions.

"Well as you promised sir, you brought us here," Admiral Thorn said, shaking hands with Admiral Stryker.

"We all did it. I am proud of each man, woman and child in this fleet, for all their sacrifices, and losses: here is the prize," Admiral Stryker said aloud, while everyone else fell silent listening to him, and watching on the main screen - seeing a planet in the distance.

"Our new Home, finally at last," Admiral Stryker said, looking at Avalon in the distance.

**To be continued...**


	20. 3x02 Hopes and Fears

**Hopes and Fears**

**part I: Old Lady's Last Run**

**Mobile Shipyard – Eternity – in orbit over Caliburn**

**Day 407 Since the Fall**

**Admiral's log**

_We finally arrived at Avalon a week ago. Our journey has ended, but now the hard work starts. With almost three million survivors in our fleet, we need to relocate them to the planet. Unfortunately, even with the best efforts of Commander Krasner there's simply not enough room in cities for everyone. So far 11 cities have been completed in total with another under construction, which can hold approximately 550,000 people right now. Tent housing units were relatively easy and quick to setup though, and there's roughly enough for 1,500,000 people to use and give them a roof over their heads. With some extra volunteers, a few hundred thousand shockingly, the rest of the civilians should be setup in tent housing within a few days. A large portion of the civilians have also volunteered to help with construction on cities to hold everyone, and with the large amount volunteers we could have all the civilians living in their own apartment or house within a year. Thankfully, after spending a year on ships, I think people will not complain about the new accommodations inside tents. I will not lie, my head feels like it's gonna explode: there are so many things to do. Admiral Thorn decided to stay on Olympia so that he could monitor the process of new technologies being developed there. Admiral Sounders will monitor the civilian relocation to the planet and also the construction of habitat buildings. The temporary police force we made in recent months on our journey to Avalon are also being setup on the planet to contain anymore violence and crime as needed. They will get the necessary supplies, headquarters, and stations they need to become a legitimate police force on Avalon. Once the president arrives with Galactica's fleet, we can look into installing the government on Avalon, and the police force will be likely be divided into subdivisions as necessary and legitimatized once the new government is put into place._

_The situation in orbit, well I won't say it is critical but it is a mess; so many ships in one place, and of course not all of them follow the rules we set for their safety. We had a few accidents, and unfortunately during one some people died. All because some impatient captains didn't follow orders. We also created a landing zone about twenty km from Avalon's capital city where all ships landed, which will likely become a starport in the future._

_Large shipyards like Eternity, Unity, and the Libran shipyard, were ordered to stay in orbit of Avalon's moon Caliburn. The massive mobile shipyards will form a core of new colonial shipyards. Mobile dock Invictus remains at her post in orbit of Avalon, together with Olympia. The support dock recovered from Caprica has been incorporated into Olympia station to increase the repair and construction facilities of the station. Meanwhile, Hera and Aurelos stations are on their way to the nearest asteroid belt with eight tugs moving them into position near one of the bigger asteroids. Lucky for us the belt is motionless and has no rogue asteroids buzzing around, so there is no danger of collisions with the station. The three Hephaestus docks were assigned to Sanctuary to continue repairs Invictus started on her. She was moved closer to Caliburn, so the smaller docks will have support from Eternity and Unity. It will take a very long time to fully repair Sanctuary, and in the meantime she is but a mere shadow of her former self. While some ships will stay in orbit, such as those civilian ships that cannot land, they will stay near the Caliburn moon where the shipyards are going to be created. The civilian mobile docks will join the other mobile docks in conducting repairs on Sanctuary._

_All military ships have formed a defensive blockade around Avalon. Although smaller groups will be all around the system, they will all be in range for in system jumps if necessary. Battlestars were moved forward in the defensive blockade and smaller ships were placed all around them to provide an adequate protective screen. There's also the former Caprica and Aerleon planetary defense grids in orbit of Avalon; 12 stations each with the power of a mercury class Battlestar, and 72 smaller anti-missile/raider satellites. With them and the new defense grid under construction, nothing shall pass through Avalon's defenses._

_I still have concerns about the harvesters, so I sent the Banshee and two dozen stealth Raptors all around the system and surrounding areas to provide an early warning for their appearance. But within fifteen hours after the patrols started, nothing out of the ordinary was found or reported. Nevertheless, we will continue to operate with caution._

_It is clear that the military cannot continue to be in charge, and to stop tensions between some groups that have arisen thanks to former delegate Campus I appointed Avalon's Governor Miral Shkan as temporary president._

_The mentioned asteroid belt in the system is rich with tylium and other needed resources, so I assigned all thirty-five of our mining ships and all twelve refinery ships to immediately start mining the asteroids for tylium and metals. The extra resources will be needed for repair work on Sanctuary, construction on Avalon, and for creating new ships. All twenty of our tanker ships will be completely loaded with as much fuel as possible to keep our supplies going for years, which is especially important now given how empty a lot of the tankers already are given the long travel to Avalon. _

_I also plan to create a small exploration group, one maybe two gunstars, with the task of exploring nearby star systems and the planets inside them. I want a good look at our neighborhood surrounding Avalon. No matter that the Battlestar Sword already did a smaller exploration on its own, when it engaged a Harvester destroyer. But we cannot live in a box, we need to know what is around us._

_It will take a week or so before everything settles down, and it will take much longer to accommodate all our survivors._

_Still no word from the Vanguard and the rest of its group, so I can only hope they find Galactica. No matter that she's a pile of junk now; she can be retrofitted and put back into service. A battlestar is still a battlestar, even if it's forty years old. She still has power inside her to offer us protection._

_I am also happy to add that during our exodus from Cyrannus, there were a few thousand births. From those, one was born yesterday and one today. Although it may not be important with everything else that's going on it is a boost to moral for everyone. New life born in our freedom and on a new world._

_Unfortunately, not counting our losses, there were also twenty one deaths. Mostly older people, from natural causes, but four were killed from theft and gangs on board civilian ships. We cannot tolerate any kind of crime anymore. That's why all who committed serious crimes have been executed, and this will continue in the future._

_Now the question: what now? Can we create a new civilization here, not making the same mistakes as we've done before? For sure there won't be AI intelligence anymore, but it is not over yet since the Cylons are still out there and as a cherry on top the harvesters lurk from the darkness of space or at least among the dark corners of this sector._

**End Log**

Admiral Stryker finished writing his log, smiling at the last sentence. "Harvesters lurk from the darkness of space, damn I could be a poet," Admiral Stryker said quietly to himself.

Admiral Stryker took a step over to the window to look outside. He liked this office; unlike Battlestars, the mobile shipyards of the Eternity class had windows for high officers. The recreation center also had a large dome shaped roof. He watched Avalon in the distance. The moon was relatively close, so he had a beautiful view of the planet.

Avalon reminded him of Caprica and Tauron. There were four continents on the planet; three were very large, the fourth was small, and there were several large islands, with the rest of the planet being open spaces of water. There were of course thousands of smaller islands not capable of being seen in space from the shipyard's distance to Avalon. In his thoughts, Admiral Stryker could only hope that this planet would one day become the new center of the new twelve colonies of kobol, with all twelve colonies all on the same planet like before the exodus from Kobol. Who knows, maybe they would even be able to return to Cyrannus, but returning there would probably not be a good idea, since that place was so full of pain, death, and tragedy. A new start on a new world was preferable and had quite a lot of power among the people. There had even been fanatics demanding that the military destroy all ships and equipment, so that humans could start over from the beginning. Thankfully, that was never considered, since without ships and technology humans would probably not survive long, and there were lots of predators on this planet in the rural areas.

Admiral Stryker continued to watch as many smaller ships buzzed around the large shipyards. From twenty two billion people in Cyrannus, a little under three million survived, at least in his fleet. There was an unknown number in Galactica's fleet, assuming she was still in one piece and the Cylons hadn't already destroyed her. Commander Belzen may even have entered an ambush or could have been intercepted by the Cylons by now, who could possibly know without any communication received from his battle group. Rumors around the fleet were that Admiral Turner was still alive and kicking, though Admiral Stryker knew for certain given Admiral Nagala's message to him before his fleet's destruction over Virgon. Admiral Stryker smiled at the thought; knowing Turner, he would make the Cylons lives miserable and with two Novas under his command he could do lots of damage - assuming he was also still alive.

And then the harvesters came to mind, given the history that Athena showed to him. If those things were here in this sector, spreading out and exploration would not be possible, but they cannot stay locked in one system and pray that the harvesters wouldn't notice them eventually. No, no more running. He would order most of their resources to be used in building a massive defense around Avalon and then slowly explore Avalon's surroundings. Every man, woman, and child on board his fleet, all survivors, were only getting stronger. They would not allow the human race to go silently into the night, and they would fight to the death. Against the Cylons or Harvesters. Humans would never give up the fight. The Cylons hit the colonies by surprise, cowardly. They knew that in a direct fight their ships were no match to colonial battlestars, so using cowardly tactics to achieve their goal of wiping out humanity was the only way. But why, all the deaths, all the destruction, why? For forty years, humans respected the treaty that was made at the end of the first cylon war, so why did the Cylons attack? Was it because of that mission the Valkyrie did a year before the attack? No. They planned this attack for much longer, and that incident only sped up their plan: there was no other way for them to have infiltrated Colonial society and have such a prepared assault on colonial defenses so quickly to almost completely wipe out all of Colonial civilization.

The Cylon prisoners said that it was the number one and one or two other models who created the plan. They believed it to be the will of the gods to exterminate the entire human race. Hardly. There was something much more to it than that.

Admiral Stryker turned and grabbed a glass of ambrosia from the table, then went back to looking at Avalon from outside his window. He still hadn't completely recovered, the pain in his leg continued to remind him of the battle when the larger part of the ceiling collapsed and fell on him. He tried to escape, but the piece hit him with a great deal of force. He still had to use a walking stick when he needed to walk for a long period of time. There was still a lot of pressure on his leg.

But he didn't care much about his wounds. Two ships were lost and lots of fighters, his beloved ship was badly damaged and against all odds survived. But he gave more time for the civilian fleet to flee to safety. Everything he did was for the civilians, and people like Campus did not have the right to judge him.

One part of the mission given to him by Admiral Nagala was finished. Now the second part remained; try to locate remaining colonial ships that may have survived, like admiral Turner's fleet, and those that remained in Cyrannus, and bring them all here. As well as deal with the Cylon threat once and for all, by finding and eliminating that dreadstar and the rest of their fleet. If they survived for one hundred or two hundred years, they would eventually attack again if they ever found Avalon. He had to stop them, and the cycle had to be broken. The cycle... he had never really understood that part of what Athena told him.

**Battlestar Galactica C.I.C.**

Commander Tigh was examining the newest recon data when Admiral Adama and Commander Belzen entered the C.I.C. He turned to meet them, giving the report to the Admiral. After being promoted, Tigh realized how much work a Commander actually had. But this never bothered him, since there had been a lot to do for his job as a Colonel too.

"All recons show no Cylon presence, nor any other contacts. They found two asteroid belts, and from scans one showed to be rich with resources, as well as one planet that could barely support any kind of life," Commander Tigh said.

"Thank you Commander. Commander Belzen calculates that we need at least a week to arrive at Avalon. This area is dangerous and we need to be on constant alert," Admiral Adama said.

"Well, we put all we could out around the fleet to scout and find anything that could be dangerous to us. So far, nothing. All battlestars are in a defensive position, and if something jumps in they won't get past our CAP. The fleet is safe," Commander Tigh said.

"You don't understand commander," Commander Belzen said, "no matter how good our defense is, it will never be perfect and you don't know this new enemy."

"And you do?" Commander Tigh said skeptically.

"No, but I know what I read from the reports and it's enough that I will never underestimate the enemy. Admiral Stryker warned me about possible contact with the harvesters on our way back to Avalon. We may not detect any presence of the enemy on our way, but that does not mean they are not out there. They could be deactivated, so only their sensors are running while we can't detect them, and after detecting, us they could power up and attack. Also, they could be almost anywhere; from those asteroid belts, and that planet. We don't really know the Harvesters enough to guess where they'll be, or their exact capabilities. Admiral, I am urging that we do not stray from our path. From the last supply report, we have more than enough supplies to continue without stopping along the way. My battlegroup has more than enough if any other ship in fleet needs food, water, or fuel," Commander Belzen said worriedly, beseeching Admiral Adama to listen to him.

"But some ships are in not very good shape Commander," Commander Tigh said, "they need repairs."

"All ships that need to can dock with the Battlestars for repairs, and they can even dock externally if need be. I apologize Commander, but after all it is up to the Admiral to decide if we continue or stop," Commander Belzen said.

"Tell me Commander Belzen, what do you think should be done with the damaged ships?" Admiral Adama asked.

"Move all the people from them and scuttle the ships. Or dock them with the battlestars to either repair or tug them along on our journey. Admiral Stryker's orders were specific, no wandering around, and to get to Avalan as soon as possible," Commander Belzen said.

"Then we proceed," Admiral Adama said, "no stopping no matter the cost, the people of this fleet have suffered enough, and I won't make them suffer anymore."

"As you wish, but Bill this will be a serious stress to our ships. Constant jumping may not affect the military ships, but it certainly will affect the civilians. Remember when the cylons forced us to jump every thirty minutes after we escaped from Cyrannus, till we found that one of our ships..." Commander Tigh said.

Admiral Adama interrupted him, "yes I remember, although I think the situation was different then. We will continue. I am not comfortable with the idea of scuttling any ship, not after they carried survivors for so long, so if there is hope for repairs they will be repaired and they will stay with the fleet, if not, well then we will destroy them. Comander Tigh C.I.C. is yours, Commander Belzen please follow me," Admiral Adama said exiting the C.I.C.

Belzen nodded and followed the Admiral out of C.I.C. leaving Commander Tigh with some recon papers which he took to examine.

The Admiral and Commander passed through to the nearest corridor which led to the hangar, then after leaving the C.I.C area Adama stopped.

"Do not get me wrong Commander, I understand Admiral Stryker wanting us there as soon as possible and we even executed his plan to the letter, by following radio silence even though we could send data bursts to his location. But isn't this caution of his a little out of control?" Admiral Adama asked.

"I told you everything the first time my group arrived here. From the initial skirmish between our gunstar, the discovery of Sanctuary, and her records. We found that these Harvesters were even more deadly and dangerous than the Cylons. We have no idea how large their fleet is, nor their command structure, or even their combat tactics. What we do know is that they have far more advanced technology than our own, or even that of the Cylons. The Cylons succeeded in destroying our homes only because they managed to infiltrate and disable our defenses through the backdoor in the CNP. No doubt once we arrive there, and when Admiral Stryker hears about us having Baltar, he will probably have him executed," Commander Belzen said.

"Baltar did make a mistake yes, and I cursed myself many times over for letting him live, but in the end he was fooled. If he knew what his actions would bring, he would probably have reacted differently than he did. He has been useful since the attack; after all he found a way to recognize Cylons from humans. He even created a DNA scanning device which helps even more," Admiral Adama said.

"I do not want to disagree, but his life is in Admiral Stryker's hands once we arrive, as well as ex-Admiral Cain. You understand now that even with these problems, we have even bigger ones; from one side we still have the Cylons, and from another one we have those Harvesters, and gods know what more is lurking out there," Commander Belzen said.

"Commander, after we left the colonies, we went out to find Earth. Many in the fleet believed it was a myth, but all we could hope for was that the thirteenth colony existed. We chose to follow you back after finding out there were a lot more survivors than we initially believed. That there are more ships that can protect what remains of humanity back at Avalon. I chose to go to Avalon on behalf of the others in this fleet, even after you told us about this new threat. Hell, I would never have even dared to engage the Cylons in open combat, especially when they had that big colony of theirs, but now they are crippled and even though they still pose a danger it's not the same danger as before. And from what you told me, Admiral Stryker won many battles back home against them," Admiral Adama said.

"Luck Admiral Adama, and good planning, that's all. Admiral Stryker is a strategic genius. He may be young, but he is a well experienced officer. I am sure that my plans for the destruction of the Colony he may not have allowed, since of course it was too risky, and yet it worked. We lost seven good soldiers, good people, but we made a fatal blow to the Cylons. However, don't fool yourself Admiral. They are even more dangerous now than before. The only reason I urge jumps almost every few hours is to cut our trip down by as much time as possible and to arrive to safety as quickly as we can," Commander Belzen said.

"And what about Cain? She did what she did, but she is one of the best command officers we have left," Admiral Adama said.

"That is not for me to decide, but I don't think that she will have a good future. Rather a short one," Commander Belzen said.

The Admiral and Commander continued on their way, until separating when the Admiral arrived at his quarters, and the Commander returned to the hangar and then to his ship.

**Outside of Cyrannus, Cylon Mobile Shipyard**

Jack Cavil stood in the C.I.C. of one of the new Adonis baseships, or as he called them - battleships. The C.I.C. was similar to standard Cylon basehips, but not quite the same given there were alot more consoles. The ship also lacked a hybrid, and had to be crewed by a crew taking care of everything on the ship – just like on a Battlestar. Centurions did most of the work, but some of the more delicate jobs were for human Cylons.

He watched the work being done in C.I.C. with a smile, not only would this ship be a complete surprise - it would be the tool of complete destruction. The Adonis baseship was slightly better armored than normal baseships. The Cylons had learned their lesson and added more defensive guns on it. The number of missile launchers remained more or less the same as that on baseships, however Adonis also possessed several heavy KEW cannnons, which were its main guns. Fighter numbers were cut down almost sixty percent due to the focus on heavy cannons and a much alrge point defense system. Nevertheless, even with only seventy-eighty Raiders per ship, their fighter force would still be enough. But the real power was its speed; much faster and maneuverable than a baseship. It would be more than capable to rush towards the enemy; attacking and destroying colonial gunships with ease and then rushing and swarming the battlestars.

Jack looked toward one of the monitors in the center of C.I.C. which showed the massive dreadstar, slightly beaten but still very alive. Gary returned with half of his ships; apparently Turner had used his two Nova battlestars and guerilla tactics to destroy another ten baseships, while the colonials didn't lose any capital ships and only some Vipers and Raptors. Jack was furious enough to shoot Gary on sight in the head when he reported his failure. A half hour later, Gary reappeared again only to be shot again by Jack. After that Gary avoided Jack as much as possible, not wanting to die and resurrect again. Eventually, Jack ordered two centurions to bring Gary to him.

The doors opened behind Jack, and two centurions entered each holding one side of Gary.

"Ah, welcome brother," Jack Cavil said smiling.

"If you brought me here just to shoot me again, go ahead," Gary said defiantly.

"No, I won't shoot you again. I'll give you one last mission, and a chance to redeem yourself," Jack said.

"Redeem? For what? I am not guilty for our losses; neither I, nor any other of our brothers and sisters could predict Turner's attacks," Gary said, sputtering angrily.

"I am not interested in your inability to do one simple task. However, as I said I'll give you another mission. This time you will prove you are capable of doing something right. I would like to kill you once for all, but we are little short on manpower," Jack said impatiently.

"And what do you want me to do?" Gary asked.

Jack didn't hesitate, he went straight to business right away.

"You will take six of these Adonis battleships, including this one as your command ship, and you will go eliminate Turner and his colony. And do not come back until you finish this mission. Actually; do not return if you fail to eliminate him, his ships, and the colonial survivors," Jack said.

Before Gary could respond, Jack left the C.I.C. leaving Gary confused and to his own thoughts.

**Six days later...**

**Avalon system outskirts**

Warstar Argona, Battlestars Titan and Victorious, plus four of the gunstars were on patrol around the outer area of the Avalon system. Admiral Stryker deployed them as the outer defense force for the Avalon system, and also as the first welcome committee for Galactica and other ships. Massive Argona and her sister the destroyed Andraste were well armed and protected, capable of holding her own in battle against the Cylons, and Stryker never left her without escorts. She was, after all, one of the ships from the original expedition to Avalon, and had participated in numerous battles. Commander Thompson was a well experienced officer, following Stryker from the start, and never questioned his orders. Although Stryker was the youngest admiral, he was an excellent strategist, and none of his plans had failed.

As Admiral Stryker ordered, Argona and the rest of her battlegroup operated on low power, not wanting to unintentionally alert any possible Harvester ship in the area.

Commander Thompson watched the latest reports from the dradis buoys that were deployed all over the Avalon system, and something was unusual, at buoy one seven six. Buoys had the capabilities to scan anything that passed near them, undetected by the passing ships, and transfer the data into one single beam directly to the nearest colonial ship that was on patrol - in this case Argona and her group recieved the data.

The dradis officer yelled out, after inspecting the data that just came in, "Sir, numerous contacts outside the system, they are heading this way."

"Numbers?" Commander Thompson asked.

"Not sure sir, about fifty or sixty ships," the dradis officer said.

"Alert all ships, send a message to command," Commander Thompson said.

"Aye sir," the communications officer said, starting on sending a message to Avalon.

"Could it be?" Colonel Tigyon asked.

"I don't know, but I won't risk it. All fighters are to be launched now, and deploy them in front of us, along with every heavy raptor we have. If this isn't Galactica then it could be Cylons, or even those Harvesters," Commander Thompson said.

"Yes sir," Colonel Tigyon said and went to give orders to others, while Commander Thompson watched the reports coming on from the buoys, "it has to be her," he muttered to himself hopefully.

Galactica and the rest of the fleet finally arrived at the last jump point, and the next jump would lead them directly to the outskirts of the Avalon system. Everyone onboard was excited. President Roslin was onboard the Galactica, in C.I.C together with Admiral Adama, and Commander Adama. The fleet was positioned into a staggered battle formation. While Galactica and Valkyrie stayed with the fleet, Pegasus in the rear, the remaining two battlestars were in front of the fleet. Admiral Adama could clearly see that the Vanguard and Chimera were in position, if something went wrong, and if they somehow jumped to the wrong coordinates then those two ships would be the first and last line of defense, before the rest of the battlestars could scramble to engage and help them.

"Did I miss something?" Starbuck asked while entering the C.I.C.

"You're late," Lee said.

"A lady needs to clear herself for such big event," Starbuck said smiling.

"Really, and since when do you call yourself a lady Starbuck?" Lee replied grinning widely.

"Enough of that you two," Admiral Adama said, not seeing a smile coming from President Roslin.

"Admiral, we're ready to jump," Lieutenant Gaeta said.

Nodding to Commander Tigh, Admiral Adama replied simply, "send a message to all ships and start the countdown."

Tigh nodded and relayed the orders; countdown ten seconds, now, and begin. For the crew in C.I.C those ten seconds passed like ten thousand years. Galactica and all other ships disappeared in flashes of light.

**Warstar Argona C.I.C.**

Commander Thompson watched in disbelief when ships started appearing from nowhere.

He didn't need IFF to recognize the ships that just jumped in were colonial; nevertheless as part of colonial safety protocols, he ordered the communications officer to send a hostile ID challenge to confirm the arriving ships IFF.

In Galactica C.I.C. the helm officer reported that the jump was completed, and Lieutenant Gaeta confirmed that all ships were present but they were also not alone.

"Turn the monitors on," Admiral Adama said, and the rest of C.I.C. went silent when they saw the massive ship in front of them. They could see the Vanguard and the Chimera, but they could also see a massive ship in front of the fleet, two additional ships which were definitely battlestars, and four ships that appeared to be Titan II gunstars.

"Dear lords of kobol," Admiral Adama said watching the massive Warstar Argona that was now magnified on screen. President Roslin held her hand to her mouth, and no doubt she was crying.

"Sir," the communications officer said, "ships in front of us are sending an IFF challenge and they are definitely colonial."

"Send our IFFs right away," Admiral Adama said.

"Yes sir, sending now." Moments, passed, and soon it become minute, then a second minute, when the communications officer yelled out again, "we are being hailed."

"Put it through to speaker, I want the whole C.I.C to hear it," Admiral Adama replied.

Then they heard the strong voice over the speaker, "this is Commander Thompson of the colonial Warstar Argona to Galactica. Welcome to the Avalon system Admiral Adama."

A cheer of joy surged through the C.I.C. everyone hugged, and shook each others hands. The Admiral allowed the crew to enjoy themselves for a few minutes before saying, "thank you Commander, it is good to finally be here."

"I would like to come aboard with your permission sir," Commander Thompson said, "in the meantime please order your ships to follow the Argona, and the rest of my ships will position themselves around your fleet."

"Permission granted Commander," was the short reply from Admiral Adama, "Commander Tigh, send a message to commander Belzen; tell him to get over here now."

"Right away," Commander Tigh replied.

Admiral Adama observed as Vipers and Raptors from the Argona changed course and returned to their ships. Ten minutes later, Commander Belzen was aboard as well as Commander Thompson, and after a brief introduction in the Galactica's C.I.C. Thompson started explaining the safety rules.

"So an in system jump is forbidden?" Commander Adama asked.

"I wouldn't say forbidden, but in case of dangerous situations it is better to have all jump engines ready rather than waiting for them to recharge. My battlegroup is part of the outer defense. We are patrolling around the edge of the system in silent mode. The trip to Avalon from here won't take more than a few hours tops at top speed," Commander Thompson said.

"Admiral Stryker really cares for security," President Roslin said.

"Yes ma'am, he is very serious about security. And I do not blame him. After our encounter with those Harvesters we don't want to risk anything happening. Especially after our last skirmish with them," Commander Thompson replied.

"Last skirmish?" Admiral Adama asked.

"Yes Admiral, the Battlestar Sword was on patrol near the Avalon system when it was engaged by an enemy ship, and it appears to have been a Harvester ship. The Sword managed to destroy it, but was damaged in the process. Admiral Stryker already formulated plans for exploration and expanding into nearby systems, but all in good time," Commander Thompson said.

"Do you know Admiral Stryker very well Commander?" President Roslin asked.

"Yes madam president, my ship was a part of the original expedition here. And also one of three ships that returned to the colonies once we received word of the attack," Commander Thompson replied.

"Did you lose any ships on the way here?" President Roslin asked.

"Only two, during our battle over Picon; we lost two battlestars. However, we managed to destroy the Cylon forces there, regain several colonial assets, and secure Picon. We left enough shuttles and troop ships so that they could send them to other planets and search for survivors. The entire Picon defense grid was intact giving our forces there complete ground and space control. There's enough power in the defense grid to annihilate an entire fleet of Cylon baseships. Admiral Stryker also ordered six viper squadrons to stay on the ground and guard the planet together with several thousand marines," Commander Thompson said.

"Did he plan to rescue those people?" President Roslin asked.

"Yes, though when I do not know. Admirals Stryker, Thorn, and Sounders form a military council together with a fourth representative, Governor Shkan, and he was chosen to be a temporary president in your absence ma'am," Commander Thompson said.

After a few hours of talking while the fleet moved closer to Avalon, the fleet arrived at the last checkpoint before entering the inner section of the system. The dradis officer was the first to observe two ships that showed on dradis.

"Two contacts on dradis," Lieutenant Gaeta said.

"Ah, those are the Battlestar Trinity and Battlecruiser Hoplite," Commander Thompson said.

"Hoplite, isn't that ship from the Virgon guard?" Commander Adama asked curiously.

"It is from the Aerelon guard actually, it was in Virgon's orbit with several other ships for training with the Virgon guard when the Cylons attacked. She and her sister ship the Venitrix survived," Commander Thompson said.

On the main monitor the well-known shape of a Mercury class battlestar was shown, the Trinity and on her right side was the battlecruiser Hoplite. Suddenly the Trinity fired her main cannons in front of the fleet, but it was an even bigger surprise when those shots exploded in rainbowed fireworks. Colonial officers knew what it meant, but President Roslin was taken by surprise.

"What's happening, why is that Battlestar firing?" President Roslin asked in confusion.

"It is an old naval tradition, madam president," Admiral Adama said, "they are saluting us. It is a custom that when a ship returns after a long voyage its saluted. Especially if it survived something terrible. So the Trinity is saluting us for our adversity before getting here."

She nodded, as the rest of C.I.C remained silent watching the fireworks in front of the fleet. And then as soon as it started the fireworks stopped. The fleet passed near the Trinity and her escorts and continued towards Avalon.

"There it is, there is Avalon," Commander Thompson said pointing at what appeared to be a star in the distance, but was in fact a planet.

Admiral Adama looked in the pointed direction, wondering if this was the old lady's last run. Although it was a new home, it was home, and she had brought them to safety.

**To be Continued...**


	21. 3x03 Ouroboros

**Ouroboros**

**Part 2: End of journey for the Battlestar Galactica**

Galactica passed Trinity and Hoplite, and together with the rest of her fleet proceeded to Avalon. Battlestars Titan and Victorious and their escorting gunstars turned around and headed back to the outer part of the system to continue their patrol, while Argona remained in front of the fleet leading the newcomers to Avalon. With time more and more dradis contacts appeared, some of which were stationary which Commander Thompson explained were warning buoys and large defense platforms under construction.

**Battlestar Atlantis C.I.C.**

By the time of Galactica's arrival Atlantis was still not fully ready for duty. A lot of her firing controls and new weapons were still not installed, but she was capable of moving on her own. Admiral Stryker wanted to make a good impression and ordered for her to get out of the dock and moved her in Avalon's stationary orbit . Several ships, mostly gunstars, were placed around her as escorts.

No matter what, he would probably go to Galactica, Stryker wanted his ship to be present when Galactica arrived.

Admiral Stryker walked through the CIC. This was actually his first time here since he left her after the fight at Picon. He was amazed to see how much of the new tech had been added. The entire CIC was reconfigured. Commander Haller was present during her retrofiting and repairs so he was not suprised, but he enjoyed watching his superior officer while Admiral Stryker inspected every inch of the C.I.C.

"Well, at least she is moving under her own power now," Admiral Stryker said.

"Yes sir, she is capable of moving on her own, but it will take a while before we install and pass all checks and trials for the antimatter engine. Then we can do trial jumps," Commander Haller replied.

"I almost forgot that new revolutionary engine will be installed on her, with that engine, presuming it works and doesn't blow us to pieces or cause a jump like the Sanctuary, will indeed increase the power of our ships tenfold," Admiral Stryker said.

Commander nodded and asked, "Sir I still don't understand why you insist that we move Atlantis out of the docks, you know quite well that she is not ready," Commander Haller said with confusion in his voice.

"Because Commander, this ship was responsible for the colonization of this planet, and for bringing all these survivors here. Atlantis always led the charge first, always led in every battle, and she won and survived all of them, with little or sometimes more damage but she survived. She is an icon, and one day if she meets her time for retirement, she will be probably be turned into a museum. I could take the Theseus or the Rycon, but I want Atlantis to be the ship that welcomes Galactica," Admiral Stryker said.

"What will happen with Galactica once she arrives, I mean, do you plan to have her upgraded or retired?" Commander Haller asked.

"There's no doubt that William Adama would like her to remain in service; upgraded with modern weaponary and defenses, she would probably be capable of serving for some time to come. But I plan to rename one of those two new Battlestars and give her to Bill as the new Galactica. He would probably not be happy giving up the old lady, but considering her replacement is the newest ship in the fleet he'll have little room to complain," Admiral Stryker said.

"I understand sir. And what about you sir?" Commander Haller asked watching the Admiral.

"Don't get ahead of yourself Commander, being a Fleet Admiral doesn't mean I plan to move to some office and do paperwork, no way in hell," Admiral Stryker said and started laughing so hard that the entire CIC looked in his direction.

"Sir, Galactica and her fleet are approaching. Argona is turning back, she's heading back to her position in the outer part of the system," the dradis officer said.

"Good, its time for me to change. Commander wait for me in the hangar bay, you are going with me," Admiral Stryker said.

"Yes sir," Commander Haller said.

**Thirty five minutes later...**

Warstar Argona changed course and was headed back to her original post on the edge of the Avalon system. Commander Thompson left Galactica a half hour before they started approaching the planet Avalon. His escort duty was over and it was time to go back to his original duty of patrolling.

Before leaving, he left a note to Admiral Adama that fleet Admiral Stryker would come aboard Galactica once Galactica reached Avalon's planetary orbit.

Admiral Adama watched from Galactica's CIC as the planet got closer and closer, and saw the massive defense platforms which were taken from some of the colonial worlds - platforms that were disabled when the Cylons used their CNP virus. Although only a portion of them that were taken from the twelve worlds, those that were here were looking as impressive as they looked in their original orbits in the Cyrannus system. Each of the larger stations were capable of taking on two to three baseships without a problem.

Not only Adama, but everyone else in CIC could notice an increase in ship activities, civilian and military. More gunstars, and even battlestars were shown. Then Belzen broke the slience.

"There Admiral, there is Admiral Stryker's flagship," Commander Belzen said pointing to one of the monitors that showed a larger battlestar that looked like an extensively upgraded Mercury, and was surrounded by a half dozen smaller gunstars as its escorts.

"So that is the legendary Atlantis," Lee Adama said, "it looks unfinished."

"You must take into consideration that the ship was badly damaged during its last battle with the Cylons. Also, her repairs were secondary while they went over a complete upgrade for new weapons and engines on her, and they focused on salvage and repair work on various other ships. Even after all these months she is not repaired totally, but knowing Fleet Admiral Stryker I would say Atlantis will be repaired quite quickly now that their fleet and ours have arrived at Avalon," Commander Belzen said.

President Roslin stood and watched the moving pictures of live videos showing Avalon itself and ships in orbit. She and Admiral Adama managed to save only a little over fifty thousand, but this unknown officer to her had saved nearly three million people and dozens of military ships. From the way Commander Belzen talked, she could imagine that he could be similar to Cain, but not like the part of her where she was willing to sacrifice even her own crew to get the job done. Stryker really cared for all those survivors.

The communications officer broke the slience.

"Admiral, Fleet Admiral Stryker will come aboard in ten minutes," the comms officer said.

"Ten minutes, blast. Commander Tigh I want all crew on the starboard hangar bay, in ten minutes," Admiral Adama said.

"Aye Admiral, the same welcoming as for Cain?" Commander Tigh asked amused.

"Indeed, the same," Admiral Adama replied.

It was very lively aboard the Galactica, the highest colonial officer was coming aboard, and some like petty officer Tyrol were not happy: there were a lot of vipers to move, as well as equipment and parts. All to make room for the crew lineup.

"Come on people faster, move everything from the main hangar; fighters stay but on their berths, move everything else," Chief Tyrol yelled across the bay as numerous technicians and engineers rushed around the bay carrying and moving stuff around.

Admiral Stryker and Commander Haller, as well as four marines and two pilots were the entire crew of the command raptor that moved toward the Galactica, with two Mk VII Vipers as escorts. Because of some small damage on its internal dampeners every turn could be felt. Unlike Admiral Stryker who had also been a pilot and gotten used to sudden manuvers, Commander Haller had trouble with the maneuvers and worked hard to try and keep his composure. Haller was not a fighter nor a support craft pilot. He had never piloted any of those ships; he was an officer, who studied all his time to one day become Colonel, then Commander and finally Admiral. With the destruction of the twelve colonies his dream died, but knowing how easly Admiral Stryker promoted he may become Admiral one day.

"This is not a racing car Lieutenant, so decrease the speed," Commander Haller said after the pilot, Lieutenant Hernadez, suddenly turned the raptor towards Galactica's starboard hangar.

"Sorry sir," Lieutenant Hernandez replied shortly.

"Are you a little nervous Commander?" Admiral Stryker asked smiling, "Aren't you enjoying the ride?"

"My apologies Admiral, I never like flying in shuttles or Raptors. I always have trouble, my stomach never really likes it, but I keep it to myself. Who would want an officer who can't withstand combat maneuvers in a shuttle or raptor," Commander Haller said.

"Well not all are for combat flying and I must admit Lieutenant Hernadez seems a little hasty to showoff, but I don't critize it. As matter of fact I like it," Admiral Stryker said laughing.

The Command Raptor; a specially design Raptor that carried high colonial officers and was standard in the twelve colonies, but the one that Admiral Stryker used was one of several modified versions. Well armored and armed, it possessed more firepower than any other raptor type.

The raptor entered the Galactica's hangar and then landed on one of the docking platforms; immediatly the platform started to descend to the inner hangar. After a few moments the platform on which the raptor sat finally stopped, revealing a large hangar bay for raptors and vipers. Instead of fighters, which were moved to the sides, the bay was full of people who lined up in many waves across the hangar deck. A small dock car was used to tow the raptor closer and after one of the crew hooked the car with the raptor, moments later it started moving foward. From inside Commander Haller was surprised to see such a welcoming commitie, but it should not be suprising since Admiral Stryker was after all the fleet admiral - the highest military officer in the colonial fleet now. And this was the proper welcoming after all.

Admiral Adama stood observing the incoming Raptor. On his left was President Roslin, Commanders Tigh, Adama, andBelzen, as well as the rest of the crew, including Athena, Starbuck, Chief Tyrol and others.

"De ja vu," President Roslin said.

"I dont think it's the same; Stryker is not Cain. Cain would never bother to save so many people as he did and to lead them back here," Admiral Adama said quietly, to which President Rosin only nodded but said nothing.

The Raptor finally stopped and the doors opened; a pair of marines exited and was followed by another pair. Moments later Commander Haller exited and stood aside, followed moments later by Fleet Admiral Stryker who was still using his cane to slowly exit from the Raptor. Stryker stopped and looked around at the gathered crew of Galactica. After he saw Admiral Adama he started to slowly limp towards him, followed by Commander Haller. And no matter that he was still in his thirties, he looked like he was much older, especially with that awful cane. Though it was a necessary evil since without it he would not be able to walk long.

As he got closer, Admiral Adama and the rest of the military officers on board Galactica saluted which Admiral Stryker returned with one quick salute. Admiral Stryker offered Admrial Adama his hand, which he took and shook hard.

"Sir!" Admiral Adama said shortly.

"At ease Admiral, at ease all," Admiral Stryker said, then continued, "in the name of the remaining fleet of the twelve colonies, welcome to Avalon, welcome back to the colonial fleet."

An eruption of joy exploded between crewmembers, this time they know for sure they had come home, to a new home.

"I am glad to see you Admiral," Admiral Stryker said.

Admiral Adama nodded pointing to President Roslin.

" Sir, this is the president, Laura Roslin," Admiral Adama said, and after which she got closer and shook hands with Admiral Stryker.

"Madam president, my name is Marcus (Mark) Stryker. As the highest ranking colonial officer, I welcome you to Avalon," Admiral Stryker said, and after a short pause he added, "Vice President Miral Shkan was unable to join us now, but he will meet us later."

After a short introduction, they all headed to the Galactica's wardroom.

A few minutes later in the wardroom, in addition to Admiral Adama, Admiral Stryker, and President Roslin, there was Commanders Adama, Tigh, Belzen, and Starbuck.

President Roslin was the first to start asking questions.

"Admiral if I may ask, how did you manage to do all this, saving so many people and ships and how did you find this system," President Roslin asked, "I didn't expect for someone so young to achieve all this."

"Hah, young yes, but I had great help from the crews of other ships, and Admirals Thorn and Sounders, who will of course join us later too," Admiral Stryker said.

Then the Admiral started telling the story, skipping the first part about coming to Avalon, and returning, no doubt they already knew about it from Commander Belzen.

"After we received word of the attack, and it took some time for it to reach us, I left all forces here except for my ship the Atlantis, Battlestar Pleiades and Warstar Argona, and headed back. We returned and our first jump was ironically in orbit of Caprica, where we engaged and destroyed several Cylon baseships. It took us time, a lot of it, but we found alot of ships and equipment saved by Admirals Torres and Nagala; ships that were expected to be retired and scrapped, but stayed in one piece at fleet depots. Of course, during that time we gathered as many survivors and surviving ships as possible..." Admiral Stryker said, but was interrupted.

"I apologize for the interruption," Admiral Adama started, " but we found that cylons look like us now, at least they..."

This time Admiral Stryker interrupted.

"Yes we know that there are several models of Cylons that look like humans. We have several of them here. They are our guests, under guard of course. They changed sides, and they helped us a lot, but they still need to earn our trust," Admiral Stryker said.

"That remains fine with me sir, we have two cylons in our fleet too; one is part of my crew, and one is on Pegasus," Admiral Adama said.

"We will deal with that matter later," Admiral Stryker said.

"Of course," Admiral Adama said.

"We were hidden in a nebula outside of Cyrannus, which ironically wasn't dangerous for humans but was for Cylons, and after we found out that many of the sick were the same it didn't take us long to realize they were Cylons. After one or two cooperated with us, we found out much more than we thought we would about the Cylons. The nebula protected us for a while, and we stayed there for a few months. In that time we gathered as many ships and survivors as we could. The Cylons were put in quarantine. Then after liberation of some Cylon prison camps and acquiring several additional ships that were in cylon hands, I formulated a plan to strike Cylon forces on Picon, so they wouldn't follow the main fleet as it left for Avalon. We escaped the nebula and jumped away but not all; a majority of our Battlestars and the Warstars Daedalus and Argona jumped back to Picon where we engaged head to head with the Cylons," Admiral Stryker said.

"Pardon me sir, from what Commander Belzen said, you attacked the Cylons with only battlestars and warstars, there were no gunstars?" Lee Adama asked.

"I see what you're getting at Commander Adama; we didn't bring gunstars with us, and without them we lost fifty percent of our anti-fighter and missile defenses, but we needed them with the rest of the fleet. Our strike was dangerous and without mercy, we lost two battlestars during the combat, but the Cylons lost almost their entire force at Picon as well as a resurrection hub. Survivors from Picon also attacked them on the ground reinforced with our troops under General O'Riley. My ship Atlantis was badly damaged by a 250 Megaton nuke, and was out of commision for a long time - even now it's not one hundred percent ready. We secured the defense platforms of the entire defense grid and repaired them. They are now under Picon defense control and will destroy any Cylon ship snooping around Picon. We also took some platforms with us from other colonies, those are here in orbit around Avalon," Admiral Stryker said.

"Did you create a plan for evacuation of those people on Picon?" President Roslin asked.

"Yes, the plan is set, and it will soon be put into motion," Admiral Stryker said.

"And it was a great risk, sending three Battlestars to find us," Admiral Adama said.

"Not really; those ships were full of supplies, which allowed them a year trip in one direction and then back - in short about two years. We risked losing them, but it was necessary to find you, and from what we know the majority Cylon forces were searching you, so we didn't really have the bulk of their forces to deal with," Admiral Stryker said.

"And I must bring you another piece of good news on that subject Admiral," Admiral Adama said, "the Cylon Colony ship as well as two dozen baseships were destroyed."

Admiral Adama told Admiral Stryker eveything that happened, which included the destruction of the Colony, and a fleet of baseships that were destroyed by the black hole.

"Well that is good news indeed; without it they should be crippled, but they are far from being defeated. You may have defeated the Colony, but you only enraged them into furthering seeking us out. Still, I think that they aren't our biggest concern now. You were informed by Commander Belzen about the Harvesters. They are our real priority now. I didn't really tell you about how we found this planet and system in the first place. Years before our fleet was sent to colonize Avalon high ranking Admirals spent military resources behind the government's back. Those resources were used to create six unmanned ships each the size of a small gunstar. Their mission was simply to find a world to sustain human life. Those ships were indeed slow, very slow. They were launched in one direction and scanned everything on that course. This system was on the edge of one of the courses of those ships. It was the only ship that automatically reported its findings back. Four other ships didn't find anything and simply returned after reaching the end of their course. The last ship disappeared, with its signal lost six months after it was launched. Could be it was destroyed by some natural phenomena , ending up in a black hole, hitting a planet or star or even asteroids. Or it was taken by an intelligent spieces. We couldn't know and frankly the Admiral brass didn't care. It was replacable," Admiral Stryker said.

"I could hardly say that a ship the size of a gunstar with advanced computer system could be easily replacable," Admiral Adama said, "but one thing I don't understand one thing, you said ships were piloted by a computer, A.I.?"

"Not an A.I., nobody trusted Artificial Intelligence after our fiasco with the Cylons. These computers that ran the search ships were really big, one third of the size of the entire ship. They run the ship through programs that were installed and encrypted into it. The ships didn't support human life, there wasn't life support, and basically those ships were drones.

And by the time the ship that found this system returned the Admiralty agreed that this would be the perfect system for our needs. It has a planet capable of sustaining life and was far away. With the normal speed of jumping it took about a year and a few months to reach it. Forming a small colonization fleet was only a matter of time.

I admit I didn't like that mission at first. Too much could go wrong and I was inexperienced. But thanks to my crew who believed in me, I did it. We did it. We even found the Sanctuary and those who survived," Admiral Stryker said.

"How did the civilians take to military control?" President Roslin asked.

"Ma'am it wasn't really a control. It was the military who saved them, who did everything necessary for them to survive. We weren't selfish like Cain who stole everything useful and those who can serve and left anyone else to rot. We've always thought first of the civilians and then of ourselves. We constantly put the civilians well being in front of our own; for resources, and for ship repairs. We did everything we could to keep the civilian fleet in the best shape we could. Every ship captain can confirm that.

Of course we did need to repair and upgrade military ships, after all our warships were what keep Cylons out. After we left Cyrannus, and with the knowledge of those Harvesters we knew that our entire fleet would be in danger, but we really didn't have any option left," Admiral Stryker said.

"You have one planet in Cyrannus that was still under colonial control. Why didnt you stay there?" President Roslin asked.

"Ma'am if we had stayed there, the Cylons would have used every means they could to destroy us. Maybe not immediatley, but in a few dozen or even a hundred years they would eventually return. The only reason the Cylons haven't attacked Picon since we've been gone is so they could use it to find us here through the rescue mission of returning to Picon they must know is coming, and they want to save their resources for the large battle taking down Avalon would require. Also, the twelve colonies of Kobol are now only ruins. More than half of the people voted that they do not wish to go back. There is too much misery, and bad memories. Avalon is our new home. The twelve colonies of Kobol now exist on one planet. United into one force," Admiral Stryker said.

"You also said that you've had problems with the civilians?" President Roslin asked.

"As I said before some didn't appreciate what we were doing. They believed that it wasn't the military who should makes rules and give orders. It was the civilian government, and I couldn't agree more, but after we heard that you became president we couldn't elect our own. If you were the president then there must be a vice president also in your fleet. The basic elected body we put in place until your return worked for some time until some became too restless and started a rebellion. We exstinguished it with force and I admit there were some losses. After that we appointed the Governor of Avalon to be acting president until Commander Belzen returned. If he reported that he didn't find the Galactica then we would havehad real elections," Admiral Stryker said.

"Well no matter the problems you had to get here and save all those people you did it Admiral, I see now that Admiral Torres made a good choice," Admiral Adama said, "but since you are Fleet Admiral, what are your plans now?"

"Our first job is to build a massive defense around the planet with manned and unmanned defensive platforms. Minefields if necessary, new ships to booster our fleet..." Admiral Stryker said trailing off as he was interrupted.

"Is that really necessary Admiral?" President Roslin interrupted.

"Indeed it is Madam President. We need new ships. The first day after we reached this planet with the civilians I swore no Cylon or Harvester would ever set foot on Avalon. People would live in peace and prosperity. But setting asie outside troubles, there are also troubles inside our colony and society to deal with. Once we settle our people with the new cities being built and planned for with the civilians help, and we are assured that everyone has their own homes; we plan to make rules to especially decimate and prevent crime. We cannot make the same mistakes as we did before.

This new society needs to be clear of any kind of crime, of course since in human nature is to do bad stuff here and crime will never really be destroyed, but we need to at least set it to an acceptable level. We plan to return to Cyrannus and pick up all those who are still there, as well as sending searching parties for Admiral Turner and his fleet. There has been so much to do and for the first time I would say we have time to do it all," Admiral Stryker said.

"What do you plan to do about Galactica?" Admiral Adama asked.

"Galactica? Well Bill that is your call, it is your ship. I can order full repairs and retrofit for the old lady if you want, if not we can turn her into a museum. She deserves retirement," Admiral Stryker said.

Adama nodded but remained silent, thinking it over. Galactica had got them here, she could be used of course, but it was really time to retire her. At least everyone would visit her as a ship that protected a small fleet of survivors on its own.

"Museum, she's earned a little peace," Admiral Adama said.

Admiral Stryker noticed a sad look from President Roslin as she thought of how many times that ship had saved their skin.

"Then she will be a museum," Admiral Stryker said.

Stryker didn't have anything else to say after that. He of course planned to give Adama one of those two new battlestars he was building. The Nike class. Nike and now Galactica as they were going to be known as. The old man would be more than happy to command the new ship called Galactica, of course if he chose to.

Admiral Stryker also found out that Cain was in the Vanguard's brig. The only place she belonged. It was painful for Stryker, but he did suceed in hiding the joy in getting back at Cain. She would finally pay, slowly of course.

...

**Vanguard's brig**

"What took so long?" Cain said after Colonel Fisk entered.

"It wasn't easy to reach you. Admiral Stryker put a tight guard, allowing almost noone from Pegasus to visit you," Colonel Fisk said.

"Nevermind that, is everything ready?" Cain asked.

"It sure is. Once Pegasus starts with the retrofit and resupply we will wait until she is done and then take the ship. More than half of the crew is with us and they will stay on the Pegasus doing their normal jobs. They stand by your side and they will do whatever is needed to release you . There is only one problem," Colonel Fisk said.

"And that is?" Cain asked apprehensively, glaring at Fisk for even thinking of a possible problem with the plan.

"Pegasus is to dock with one of those massive mobile docks. I think on one of the internal docking bays. It won't be easy break through if that is true," Colonel Fisk said.

"We will deal with that problem when the time comes for it," Cain said.

"Admiral, when do you want us to start with our operation?" Colonal Fisk asked.

"Not yet," Cain said.

"But what if Admiral Stryker executes you?" Colonel Fisk asked.

"He won't, he is too bogged down with rules and justice to do it quickly. He will form a court first. See that everything is ready," Cain said.

"Yes Admiral," Colonel Fisk said and turned and exited the brig.

She was sure that everything she had done was for the best of her crew. How dare Stryker insult her like this. Strip her of her rank and throw her into the brig like she was a common criminal. She would have her revenge, sooner or later.

"If that fool Fisk does everything right you will pay Stryker, you will pay," Cain said watching the doors of the brig.


	22. 3x04 The Outcasts

The Outcasts

Day 425 Since the Fall

Admiral's Log

_A week and a half has passed since Galactica and her fleet arrived. About fifty thousand additional survivors arrived with the fleet. I assured President Roslin that the people from Galactica's fleet would have everything they need, and they were quickly put in tent homes like everyone else. We still don't have enough buildings for housing everyone, but the work on cities is moving quite fast with the addition of hundreds of thousands of civilian volunteers and specifically a few thousand prisoners working to earn their freedom. The prisoners in Galactica's fleet were given an unsteady freedom on their voyage from the colonies by President Roslin for their assistance on giving their fleet water, but to prevent conflicts with prisoners who've been working for their freedom on Avalon a compromise was called for all remaining prisoners to help create buildings in Avalon's new cities for our survivors. All those prisoners with past military and fleet experience have been reintroduced to the fleet with their records swiped clean, and the remainder working on building cities will be allowed to re-join the civilian population once the majority of people on Avalon have their own home. Already we're under great pressure to build new houses and buildings to accommodate everyone._

_I must say I'm relieved knowing that another group of survivors has arrived safely at Avalon. We have more than enough people to rebuild our civilization. With more survivors on Picon, the rest of the colonies, and in Admiral Turner's fleet, I know humanity and the colonies will survive and rebuild._

_President Roslin is now president not only of those people in Galactica's fleet, but also president of the entire Colonial remnant. Former Governor Shkan was appointed as Vice-president. Now that President Roslin is at Avalon, elections are in the process of being setup in order to legitimatize the new government. After all, President Adar's original term ended and thus President Roslin's term under emergency circumstances ended as well. Unfortunately that means elections to either re-elect Roslin or put someone else in power under the people's majority vote. I do hope Roslin is re-elected since logs of the Galactica's journey have made it clear to me that she is exactly the kind of leader we need to make the tough choices ahead of us in the future. _

_Gina Inviere, a Cylon number six brought aboard Pegasus, remains in the brig until further notice. She was responsible for the death of seven marines and I didn't want her free no matter the objections from Commander Belzen or Gaius Baltar. I think Baltar objected the loudest when he was informed about my decision; he slammed open my doors demanding an explanation. This was the man that developed the CNP which allowed the Cylons to shut our ships down and destroy our fleet and the colonies. I warned him that he was lucky to still be alive, and I called marines to throw him out. _

_The second Cylon in Galactica's fleet was a number eight named Sharon "Athena" Valerii serving on board Galactica as an official crew member. Another copy that carried the same name almost killed Admiral (Commander at that time) Adama. This one is fully loyal to Adama, and she's cooperating with us fully. After a long and extensive interrogation she was allowed to stay at her post. _

_And then there's Cain to consider, former Admiral Helena Cain. Oh how long I've waited for this day. I can't say that she was not a good officer; she was loyal to Colonial fleet, but her brute behavior and her actions are against her. Cain was always a pain in fleet command's ass. They probably promoted her just to get rid of her. I don't really know what was in Fleet Admiral Torres' head when he promoted her. Adama was the one who should have gotten that promotion instead of her. And now she lies in my brig. Oh it didn't take me long to realize that she had an escape plan. Her own bridge officer betrayed her. Lieutenant Louis Hoshi, the communications officer on board Pegasus. He never liked Cain, and why should he, from what he said she always treated him without any kind of respect. He faked being on Cain's side when Colonel Fisk came to him to find out about his loyalties to Cain. He overheard a conversation between Fisk and some other high officers on board Pegasus. They planned to hijack Pegasus during its refit and to rescue Cain from the brig. Without mister Hoshi I might not have found out about this before it was too late. So what to do with this information? _

_The obvious answer would be to arrest Fisk and the rest of Pegasus officers loyal to Cain, but then I would need to arrest about half of the Pegasus crew for conspiracy. I cannot order Cain's execution. Oh she knows I follow the rules, and for her those rules were pointless; she thought the colonies were gone, and the military chain of command was gone, but she was wrong._

_Rather than kill her I decided on a more radical approach. Forming a court martial for her would take time. And I want to get rid of her as fast as possible. She is a monster now, and like Jason Campus she would start working from behind my back, even from inside the brig. _

_It is time to finally meet with her face to face. Cain probably expected that I would be the first person who would visit her, but I left her waiting. Now it's time to finally go and confront her._

End log.

Admiral Stryker finished his log and then called the Lieutenant that was on watch. He ordered that Helena Cain be brought to the secondary conference room on board the Unity. Colonel Fisk was also to be present.

Some thirty minutes later Admiral Stryker was waiting in one of Unity's conference rooms. The doors opened and Colonel Fisk entered.

"Sir, you called for me?" Colonel Fisk asked.

"Yes Colonel, sit. We are waiting for one more person," Admiral Stryker said.

Colonel Fisk nodded and sat down on the left. Several more minutes passed before the doors opened again, and this time a marine guard entered followed by Helena Cain and a second guard. One of the guards pointed Helena toward the table and told her to sit down.

"You may stay by the door sergeant," Admiral Stryker said.

"Yes sir," the sergeant replied.

Helena observed Stryker for a moment. Clearly he was not the same man; he looked older and more serious than when she had seen him before. She was also surprised to see Fisk here. She could move in her chair, but her arms were handcuffed.

"You?" Cain hissed, watching Stryker with her cold eyes, "Why am I here?"

"Yes me Cain. Why are you here? Why do you think you're here?" Admiral Stryker asked.

"Are you planning to execute me?" Cain asked.

Instead of answering her question, Admiral Stryker looked down at one of the papers in front of him and started dictating Cain's biography, while also taunting her at the same time.

"I have your entire file Helena, everything from your birth to the second Cylon war. You were born on Tauron during the first Cylon war by your parents Samuel and Soundra Cain. You had a younger sister Lucy that went missing during the last day of the war. Your father was also killed on the same day. Your mother raised you alone," Admiral Stryker said.

"Why are you telling me this?" Cain asked angrily, but Admiral Stryker didn't pay attention to her question.

"The loss of your father and your sister was probably what moved you toward a military career. By the age of seventeen you joined the colonial navy. You rose in rank quickly, showing great command capabilities. You were one of the best in your class and also one of the most aggressive and brutal. By the age of twenty nine you were promoted to Commander, the youngest Commander ever. Brilliant and resourceful; that was what your superiors thought about you. But everything changed when you were promoted to the rank of Admiral. You were always cold and hateful, having only a small circle of friends that you could trust; you become a terror to the majority of your crew. You ran your ship with cold and brutal discipline which did get you in some problems with other officers. The childhood trauma must be responsible for what you are today Cain. Hate and vengeance toward the Cylons were the fuel that powered you, but when the war with the Cylons started again you showed your full rage. You would probably have killed Belzen if Fisk hadn't stopped you, but that didn't stop you from making irrational decisions," Admiral Stryker said.

"You don't know anything about me Stryker. You're a worm that crawled under everyone skins to the top of fleet command," Cain said viciously.

"Like you Cain I was very resourceful, but I am also much smarter than you are. I was not the best in my class like you, but I did know how to do my job well. I beat your precious Pegasus with a ship that was three times smaller and weaker using only my brain. You like to win, you never lose and you couldn't reconcile with loss. I saved over two million people, and gathered dozens of warships. Most of all I had support from the entire military in this fleet and the civilians as well. Who gave you support? The only ones who respect you are your crew, and half of them are just afraid of you. After finding out that you had a Cylon on board you beat the crap out of her, and allowed your officers to rape her. Yes she did kill your marines, but what you did to her later, that was not how a colonial officer works," Admiral Stryker said.

"She was a Cylon, that thing pretended to be friends with everyone on board and then betrayed us. What I did was torture a prisoner of war to get information vital to the survival of the crew of my ship," Cain said.

"In your place I would simply have shot her, and not allowed the horrors that Lieutenant Thorne and others did to her. I could understand your actions; the Cylons had just blasted the colonies to hell, but you turned against your own people. If not for Fisk, you would have killed Belzen on site, but instead of that you condemned him to a slow death, and it was lucky for him that he found a military depot. Then there's what you did to that small civilian fleet. You ordered for those ships to be stripped for everything they were worth. You even took people against their own will, all those that could be used, leaving everyone else to die. Do I even need to mention that some of your officers opened fire on innocent civilians?" Admiral Stryker said.

"Now wait a minute Admiral, that wasn't Cain's fault, Lieutenant Shaw did that on her own accord. I was there," Colonel Fisk said.

"Shut the frak up!" Admiral Stryker yelled at a surprised Fisk who remained silent, "I don't want a word from you until I allow it, do I make myself clear?"

"Yes Admiral," Colonel Fisk said stonily.

"Good," Admiral Stryker said, "You Fisk are responsible for what happened on the Scylla. Shaw was under your command and you could have stopped her. How do you justify that?" Admiral Stryker asked.

"Sir she acted without any orders; she simply started shooting people and by the time I stopped her a few people were already dead," Colonel Fisk said solemnly. 

"Which makes you guilty as well; you are her superior officer. Do I need to start with you Fisk? You had a connection with the Black Market in Galactica's fleet. You smuggled forbidden contraband upon your meeting up with Galactica's fleet, and throughout the trip to Avalon. At least Shaw paid for what she did with her life. She redeemed herself at least in part for her sins when she destroyed the Cylon Colony, but you two are a disgrace for that uniform you wear. Cain wanted to play hero with one ship against the entire Cylon armada. Do I really need to remind you Cain that you lost half of your fighters in that attack on the staging ground, which you believe was only a Cylon supply point but continued with the attack even after it seeing the mass amount of raiders there," Admiral Stryker said.

Cain remained silent. She had met Stryker many times before the war, but this was the first time he had shown his fury. He was not as weak as she had thought. There were a few times she would have liked to say something, but instead remained silent.

"If you want to know what is going to happen next Cain, I will tell you. I won't execute you; I have better plans for you. I know of your little plan to hijack Pegasus and escape," Admiral Stryker said, stopping for a second to observe their reactions. They stared at him in surprise, probably wondering how the hell he could know.

"Not all of your crew really like and respect you Cain. And you never know who may be listening, especially at places where Colonel Fisk met with others of your crew. Bring him in," Admiral Stryker said to one of the guards. Moments later the guards returned with Lieutenant Hoshi.

"Mister Hoshi overheard talk between Fisk and Lieutenant Thorne about your plan," Admiral Stryker said.

Both Cain and Fisk looked at Hoshi, who was clearly terrified. Cain only yelled "Traitor!" at him.

"Oh, he was not a traitor: you are. You can go Mister Hoshi," Admiral Stryker said.

Hoshi nodded and exited the room.

"So what will you do now Stryker?" Cain asked, narrowing her eyes at him.

"It is Admiral Stryker to you, or if you want Fleet Admiral Stryker. What will I do? Well I will allow you and the crew that was on your side to take the Pegasus and get the frack out of my sight," Admiral Stryker said.

Both Fisk and Cain remained silent and surprised, staring at Admiral Stryker.

"Oh you heard me right Cain. I will allow you to take your ship and go. Limited supplies, limited fuel, a few fighters to protect you. Without a tanker or refinery ship you won't last for long. Once your ship jumps out of this system its computer system will delete all information about this system, most importantly its coordinates. After you leave this system, you're on your own; you and your little band of renegades. Without full crew, without supplies and resources how long will the mighty Pegasus last? Of course you could return back to Cyrannus but I'll simply send a message back to Picon to warn them about you. You won't have a home there. You will be forced to wander around, but be warned that if you stay in this sector too long darkness and other enemies far more dangerous than the Cylons may find you.

"You can't do that. The President won't allow it," Cain said, going pale.

"She can't allow or fight against something that she doesn't know about, and by the time she finds out about it, I'll make up some cover story. I am after all, Fleet Admiral," Admiral Stryker said coldly.

"You are mad, you are completely mad. My crew is not guilty. You've condemned them to die even as you know they are innocent!" Cain yelled in outrage.

"So you care for others after all?" Admiral Stryker asked quietly.

"If you have a quarrel with me, you don't have to involve my crew," Cain said.

"Yes you are right, but letting you go is not my real purpose. This was just a demonstration of what I could do," Admiral Stryker said with a wide smile.

"What do you mean you lunatic?" Cain asked.

"Me, well I've been called many names but lunatic isn't one of them. Nah I won't let you go. You and others from your crew will be let go, but not in our new society. You will live in the Annai desert. I believe a little vacation in the desert will do you well Cain. Letting you go in a ship is not a good idea.

I could give you a ship to go back to Cyrannus, but I cannot risk the Cylons or Harvesters detecting your ship. You will remain here where I can keep an eye on you. Consider this your punishment," Admiral Stryker said.

"Then why don't you simply shoot me and get it over with?" Cain asked.

"I don't want to give you the satisfaction of a quick and painless punishment for what you've done," Admiral Stryker said simply.

"You bastard, you fracking arrogant bastard," Cain said furiously.

"Call me whatever you want. You are the one who broke colonial and humanitarian laws; you are the one who is being judged right now, this very moment. And my conclusion is that you never changed, you are the same old Cain - ready to do anything and everything necessary to finish the mission. This time however, you lose; get over it," Admiral Stryker said.

Admiral Stryker signaled one of the guards to move Cain back to her cell.

Admiral Thorn emerged from a second set of doors.

"Is that really smart move? What about president?" Admiral Thorn asked.

"What about her?" Admiral Stryker said.

"She won't approve of this action of yours," Admiral Thorn said.

"I do not plan to kill Cain, no matter how much I want to. The Firestar Brilliant will be placed in the middle of the desert, and it will give them shelter and supplies. If they're smart, they will stay there. And besides, even if they try to escape the desert and move to one of the cities, there's no chance they will find where our civilization is located on a completely different continent from the desert they're on. How they will cross the ocean without an adequate ship given that the Firestar is permanently beached on land, and how will they navigate their way through an unknown ocean without any navigation tools. They could try to leave, but they simply don't have the means to get very far from the desert without our help. And I don't plan to keep them there forever; two maybe three years, that would be a fair punishment, and those who survive will be integrated back into society," Admiral Stryker said.

"I know you well; this is cruel even for you," Admiral Thorn said.

"It is not, it is… justice," Admiral Stryker said.

"You're practically leaving them to die there. Is that your way of justice?" Admiral Thorn asked.

"They will be monitored, but what happens there is up to them. I cannot have that kind of people here. Even those prisoners that came with us are doing something useful. I cannot have a bunch of officers who blindly follow someone like Cain, she is a menace. After a year or two I'll get them back to civilization, but for now they will have a chance to enjoy Avalon's wild beauty from firsthand experience," Admiral Stryker said.

Cain, Fisk, and fifty others of Pegasus' crew loyal to Cain were transported to the location of the Firestar Brilliant. It didn't take them long to find that the Firestar contained food, water, medicine, and other supplies. No weapons were aboard the ship except several combat knifes.

"So Admiral Stryker left us provisions, but no real weapons except a few knifes for defending ourselves against wild animals," Fisk said.

"He is afraid that we could use weapons in a futile attack on Colonial outposts or other bases on this planet," Cain replied.

"But how, we don't even know where we are," Fisk said.

"Never mind that, we have lots of work ahead of us. This ship could hold up to two hundred crew, we need to get everyone organized within the ship," Cain said.

A week later…

"You did what Admiral?" President Roslin asked, she had just found out about Stryker's deal with Cain. Admiral Adama stood beside Roslin as her adviser. "You cannot do things like that without the rest of the military command and civilian government knowing about it."

"With due respect ma'am, this is completely a military matter. A court martial would lead nowhere and eventually she would be freed. She deserves at least one year of hell in that desert and by gods she will have it. There's enough supplies for one year, maybe a year and half if they know how to economize it," Admiral Stryker said.

"But this is not the right way Admiral," President Roslin said.

"Maybe not, but it is one way. Having her in the brig for years is not an option, and killing her is not an option either. She cannot go without punishment. It's done, madam President. Right now there are more important matters for us to discuss. I called you here to tell you of my plan for getting all the survivors from Cyrannus here. Admiral Adama will lead the rescue mission," Admiral Stryker said.

"It would be an honor sir," Admiral Adama said in shock.

President Roslin didn't say anything but nodded for Admiral Stryker to continue.

"We've been building several heavy transport ships and upgrading our other older heavy transports to the specifications Atlantis, Pleiades, and Warstar Argona were running on which previously allowed us to reach the colonies from Avalon in 2 months. In a month the rescue fleet should be ready with several more heavy transports built during that time. Other upgrades to those ships were made from studying jump technology we found aboard the Cylon Resurrection hub at Picon. Additionally, our captured Cylons and Athena from Galactica have helped us figure out a way to lead a large rescue fleet to Picon in much fewer jumps using the Navigation computer from a captured Cylon heavy raider. Given all the factors involved, we're confident the rescue fleet can reach Picon from here in about a month," Admiral Stryker said.

"Only a month to reach the colonies?" Admiral Adama asked in surprise.

"Indeed. Unfortunately there's a great amount of risk involved with this mission. There is slightly over a million POWs and survivors spread across Picon, with several hundred thousand to a few million across the other colonies. Using all 9 of our assaultstars with only a skeleton crew aboard, 6 colossus heavy military transports, 80 large civilian transports, and the 50 heavy transports which will be ready by the time the mission launches in one month, we should be able to recover 1 million people from Picon. All of our heavy cargo ships will also go with the fleet with the intent to strip intact factories and buildings of supplies on Picon, which will be useful for our people on Avalon until we can start producing necessary supplies for such a large population. We've tried planning the mission to include more ships to get as many people as possible, but the fact is the more ships involved in the mission the slower the fleet of ships will move between Avalon and the colonies. We also can't afford to do several rescue missions since the Picon defense grid is the key to why the Cylons haven't moved on Picon already. Once the Cylons know a rescue mission is underway, they will most certainly be willing to commit their forces to attacking the rescue fleet and even the defense grid," Admiral Stryker said.

"I see. The Cylons haven't attacked Picon because they're unwilling to risk the fleet losses that would incur, but if we arrive to take people back to Avalon then the Cylons have a good reason to risk the fleet losses in order to follow us back to Avalon," Admiral Adama said, sighing in frustration.

"Therefore, the problem will be reclaiming the rest of the people left behind since the rescue fleet can only take on 1 million people. The plan requires exact precision in filling up the ships in the rescue fleet to full capacity, and striking the Cylons in hit and run attacks to distract them. Best case scenario, the Cylons don't immediately notice the rescue fleet carried out if the fleet is quick enough to get in and out. If the Cylons do notice the rescue fleet, then we have to hope to make them willing to wait to start attacking until all our forces retreat from Picon. Once the rescue fleet leaves Picon, the defense grid will remain in place and the majority of the military escort ships will continue hit and run attacks on the Cylons. The Cylons should assume then that there is another rescue mission underway until after the defense grid is removed from Picon and our remaining military ships leave the Cyrannus system. The most dangerous part of this mission will be the long wait time in between the rescue fleet originally leaving with the Picon survivors and returning; which would mean one month to return to Avalon and unload the survivors, and then a month to return for as many survivors left on the colonies as we can carry. During that time, your fleet will have to continue engaging the Cylons in order to distract them and keep them from massing their forces,"

Admiral Stryker said.

"Quite a dangerous mission and a lot rides on either the Cylons not noticing the first rescue mission arriving, or being willing to wait until we completely retreat from the colonies. And a lot could go wrong in the two months in between the recuse fleet's return," Admiral Adama said darkly.

"It sounds dangerous, but if it can bring back a large amount of survivors and resources from the colonies then it's worth it," President Roslin said firmly.

"Both of the two new Battlestars recently built will be assigned as command ships for the military escort fleet, joined by all nine Battlestars salvaged from the colonies on the way to Avalon, the Warstar Argona, and several gunstars and cruisers. Our other newest ship, the Combatcruiser Audacious, will be a part of the rescue mission as it is an excellent opportunity to test its capabilities. One of the new Nike class Battlestars has been named the Galactica, and I think you will approve of her taking the mantle from her namesake. She will be your new command ship Admiral Adama," Admiral Stryker said.

"Thank you sir," Admiral Adama said, with mixed feelings about the Galactica's replacement.

The group continued discussing the evacuation plan and discussed other issues on the surface of Avalon. A few hours later they went their separate ways as President Roslin returned to Colonial One, Admiral Stryker to the Atlantis, and Admiral Adama went to visit his new command ship.

Day 450 Since the Fall

The elections were completed without a hitch, and Roslin was re-elected as President with Governor Shkan officially her Vice President. The vote was nearly unanimous due to popular opinion favoring Roslin's leadership of Galactica's civilian fleet when the fleet was believed to be the last of humanity. The hardships of the fleet became general knowledge, and Roslin's ability to keep the fleet together despite their numerous hardships was quite appealing to the public given their new circumstances on Avalon. An official quorum of twelve was put in place, with few members coming from either Galactica's or Avalon's previous unofficial Quorums.

The evacuation fleet was completed with all the necessary upgrades to make the necessary long range jumps to Picon in a month. _Athena _was put in charge of regulating the jump coordination among the fleet using the Cylon heavy raider's navigation computer. Commander Thompson onboard the Warstar Argona was promoted to the rank of Rear Admiral and put in charge of half the military fleet involved in the evacuation mission.

Battlestar Atlantis C.I.C.

"Sir, Admiral Adama reports the fleet is ready to move out to complete the rescue mission," the communications officer said.

"Very well. Tell the Admiral good luck, and good hunting," Admiral Stryker said.

Several minutes later, the fleet of ships for the rescue mission to the Colonies broke away from the main fleet's formation and jumped away.


	23. 3x05 Exodus from the Colonies Pt1

**The Last Exodus: Return to the Colonies – Part I**

**Day 477 Since the Fall**

9 Assaultstars, 6 colossus heavy military transports, 80 large civilian transports, 50 heavy transports, 3 cradle mobile docks, and 100 supply and heavy cargo ships of the rescue fleet arrived a jump away from the colonies. The military escort fleet began jumping in formation around the evacuation ships in sequence; 15 Battlestars, Warstar Argona, Combatcruiser Audacious, 12 Titan class Gunstars, 10 Defender class Gunstars, 10 Heavy Cruisers, 8 Battlecruisers, 7 Lightcruisers, 7 Strikestars, and 5 Berzerk class Escortstars.

**Nike class Battlestar Galactica C.I.C.**

"Admiral, all ships are reporting in. We're now approximately one jump away from the colonies hidden inside an asteroid field," the communications officer said.

"Very good. Has Chief Tyrol reported in on any more engineering problems throughout the fleet?" Admiral Adama asked.

"No sir. No more problems with engines throughout the fleet have been reported in the last few jumps. All the lighter support ships are functioning at 100% after only making one jump following undocking from the larger ships in the fleet so they could get here with as little trouble as possible, given that their jump ranges are still shorter than our larger ships, even given their recent upgrades with the fleet. The rest of the fleet's ships appear fine after the repairs made last week when some engines started overheating from constant jumping. Chief Tyrol is suggesting he and his team give the fleet an overall checkup in person just in case though," the communications officer replied.

"Tell the chief he has the go ahead then, and to be brief," Admiral Adama said.

"Yes sir," the communications officer said.

"Shall we start the recon operation as planned?" Commander Tigh asked impatiently.

"Yes, we need to move quickly now that we've arrived. Send in the stealth raptors across the colonies and Cylon space, and have the fleet setup a CAP," Admiral Adama said.

"Good idea," Commander Tigh replied, picking up the communications relay to send out the raptors and orders for the CAP to setup across the evacuation fleet.

Athena disconnected herself from the Heavy Raider's brain and got up to stretch after having sat still for so long maintaining the coordination of jumps for the fleet.

"Admiral, permission to join the recon mission?" Athena asked.

"Granted. Take note of any new Cylon formations, and try to see if you can figure out some ideas for what they're doing and where we can hit them hardest," Admiral Adama said.

"Yes sir," Athena said with a salute, and walked out of C.I.C. to join the recon stealth raptors before they left. Helo followed her out.

The fleet's stealth raptors left to scout out various areas across both Colonial and Cylon space. A couple of raptors went to land on Picon to give General O'Reilly the fleet's current plans and the specs for the evacuation mission so he could begin getting things ready for the fleet's arrival. The Picon defense grid was in place with dozens of vipers on patrol, just as they had been when the fleet left for Avalon – though several defense platforms showed burn marks and other signs of fighting.

**Day 478 Since the Fall, 0900 Hours**

**Galactica War Room**

"The recon mission reveals that the Cylons have quite a few first war baseships on patrol across the colonies, along with very few of their new baseships. Approximately 3 first war baseships are stationed at each of the colonies except Picon, with several standard baseships and patrolstars patrolling across colonial space. There is also over a dozen standard baseships spread over the expanse of space we know to be Cylon territory from the stealthstar Banshee's time in Cylon space," Starbuck said.

"Seems the Cylons are trying to stop rescue missions from Picon to the other colonies with a blockade," Helo said, looking over the report from General O'Reilly, where the General had detailed the various successful missions to get supplies and survivors across the colonies back to Picon.

"Where is the rest of their fleet? The fleet that would've returned from the Promar sector, the Cylon Mobile shipyard, and whatever fleet units they've been building up since the fleet's trip to Avalon should be around here somewhere," Commander Tigh said in frustration.

"Part of the fleet would likely be off attacking the Prometheus fleet," Admiral Adama said thoughtfully.

"True, though it looks like the Cylons are preparing a fleet to attack Avalon once they find it and given the majority of colonial survivors are at Avalon the highest priority to all their plans will be oriented around annihilating Avalon before looking at Prometheus' group. The rest of their fleet we've been able to find are simply maintaining a control over their territory and particularly the colonies," Athena said.

"So chances are they've sent a lot of ships in the general direction of Avalon and created a supply base at a midpoint along the way so they can backtrack to the colonies or start their push towards Avalon whenever they wish," Helo said, frowning at the implications.

"Admiral Stryker's fleet did encounter a Cylon ship following them on their trip to Avalon. Odds are they're mapping out the path there and having a forward base to start moving in that direction makes sense," Commander Adama said, not liking the situation one bit.

"Can we send a strike force to eliminate their base on our way so we can push back whatever progress they've made towards getting to Avalon?" Admiral Adama asked.

"No sir. We have no idea where they placed their forward base and though we can send out scouts to map out the area to try and find them I wouldn't suggest it. The Cylons have had a lot of time to make progress towards finding Avalon, and it stands to reason that they put their base a fair distance away given how much distance their baseships can cover and still be able to go back to the colonies and Cylon space conveniently. They'll have to spread out in a number of directions since they don't know where Avalon is exactly, and unfortunately that provides a vast area for us to search through to find _them_," Lieutenant Gaeta said.

"Very well. We'll leave the Cylons moving towards Avalon for another time. Right now let's focus on the Cylons here so we can complete our current mission. What are our options?" Admiral Adama asked.

"Admiral, given the vast amount of Cylon ships across the colonies right now threatening the mission to Picon, we'll have to take them all out. If we attack only some of their positions then the remainder can jump in at their leisure to disrupt our strike forces and possibly even head towards Picon. The only way to keep the Cylons from moving their forces in colonial space to attack the evacuation fleet at Picon is if we attack all their baseships at once. We don't have enough Battlestars to match them ship for ship, so we'll have to spread out along with our support ships and multiple raptor teams of raptors using nukes," Starbuck said, dragging the figurines for the fleet to each of the Cylon baseship positions.

"Can we really take on their baseships using mostly support ships?" Commander Adama asked, imagining a Gunstar being overwhelmed by a baseship's nukes and grimacing slightly at the thought.

"This is definitely one of your crazier ideas Starbuck," Commander Tigh said gruffly.

"We'll have surprise on our side. Raptor strikes can even the playing field a fair bit, in addition to some technical advantages from our upgraded ships and tactics we can use to make things go smoothly," Athena said confidently.

"I don't like fragmenting the fleet, but this sounds like our best plan to keep the Cylons in the dark about the rescue mission going on so we can get everyone out without a battle at Picon. We may even get the evacuation fleet back to Avalon without the Cylons knowing," Admiral Adama said after a minute of silent thought, looking carefully at each fleet's positions.

"Do we still have raptors monitoring the patrolling baseships?" Commander Tigh asked, not wanting to consider a strike force being annihilated from improper recon allowing the Cylons to have moved positions or gathered more ships before the mission without their knowing.

"Several raptors are monitoring them. The patrolling fleets move from one colony to the next within a few hours of each other. It's most likely for preventing any ships getting close to the colonies at sublight speed, and keeps them quickly appraised of attacks throughout the colonies if communications are jammed," Starbuck said.

"We'll attack when they're in transit between colonies so we can make our move to take out the stationary units without the chance of reinforcements," Admiral Adama ordered, having made his decision, "Raptors will go with our fragmented fleets towards the stationary units to even the playing field against the baseships, and otherwise will be jamming communications throughout the colonies. Get our fleet ready to split up into smaller units as necessary for the attack, and get the evacuation fleet prepared to move out as soon as we move on the Cylons."

"Yes sir," Commander Tigh said and moved out to start relaying orders to the fleet. Starbuck, Athena, and Helo went to the flight deck to prepare the raptor and viper squadrons for the attack.

**Day 479 Since the Fall**

A single Battlestar accompanied by several support ships and raptors complemented with nukes were set to jump to each of the colonies, except Picon, and attack the three first war baseships there.

Battlestar Ithaca and Gunstars Triton, Avalanche, Stiletto, Thaddeus, and Calamity set to jump to Gemenon. Battlestar Rhodes and Gunstars Stargazer, Sturgeon, Redeemer, and Avenger set to jump to Aquaria. Battlestar Durga and Gunstars Medusa, Neleus, and Aegaeus set to jump to Virgon. Battlestar Glorious and Gunstars Peacekeeper, Brooks, and Hook set to jump to Tauron. Battlestar Arcadia and Gunstars Harpy, Tower, and Modesto set to jump to Leonis. Battlestar Atlas and Gunstars Conflict, Lake, and Howler set to jump to Libran. Battlestar Calypso and Battlecruisers Greer and Hood set to jump to Canceron. Battlestar Thanatos and Battlecruisers Silvanus, Maia, and Nereids set to jump to Aerilon. Battlestar Sciron and Battlecruisers Proteus, Boreas, and Aeolus set to jump to Sagittaron. Battlestars Sleipnir and Trinity were set to jump to Scorpia. Battlestars Nike, Galactica, Pegasus, Vanguard, Warstar Argona, and Combatcruiser Audacious were set to jump to the patrolling Cylon fleets in transit between the colonies.

The remaining military escort ships were set to jump to Picon with the evacuation fleet.

**Galactica C.I.C.**

"Action stations, action stations, set condition one throughout the fleet. This is not a drill," Lieutenant Gaeta said over the fleet wide communications.

**A few minutes later…**

"All ships report condition one is set and FTL set to jump to each location as ordered sir," Lieutenant Gaeta said.

"Very good. Mister Gaeta, inform all ships to commence countdown to jump," Admiral Adama said.

"Jumping in 5, 4, 3, 2, 1. Jump!" Lieutenant Gaeta said.

The fleet commenced their jumps across the colonies.

**Picon**

The evacuation fleet arrived and started descending to the planet to take on the supplies and people to completely fill each ship. General O'Reilly had arranged for most of the people to be taken in preset evacuation zones to quickly be picked up. Many stores and factories had been picked out to completely empty of supplies which the cargo/supply ships would take on. It would take hours for the supplies and people to be packed into the evacuation ships.

**Gemenon**

Battlestar Ithaca and Gunstars Triton, Avalanche, Stiletto, Thaddeus, and Calamity appeared in a flash of light, surrounding three first war baseships. Vipers were launched to meet raiders patrolling around the fleet, the baseships began launching additional raiders.

Ithaca and the Gunstars shelled the baseships with their heavy KEW cannons, and launched several nukes at the baseships. The baseships returned fire after the shock from the colonial fleet's sudden appearance wore off.

The concentrated KEW fire of Gunstars Triton, Avalanche, and Stiletto quickly tore through the armor and many weapon emplacements on the baseship they were facing. A nuclear missile strike then passed through almost unimpaired to detonate in the center axis of the baseship, only three of the eight nukes were shot down from defensive fire. The baseship went up in a massive explosion as the nuclear flame reached the tylium bunkers on the baseship.

The baseship that the Gunstars Thaddeus and Calamity faced put up a tougher fight. Thaddeus was hit by a nuke on top of her armor; endangering the crew aboard as several systems went haywire and the hull was compromised in several sensitive sections of the ship, forcing the ship's commander to order the ship to jump out to Picon. Calamity concentrated several missile strikes and her heavy KEWs on the baseship to destroy many of her missile and KEW emplacements. Both ships continued firing on one another.

Battlestar Ithaca faced the third baseship alone and concentrated her weapons fire to heavily damage the topside saucer and create hull breaches along the central axis of the baseship. The baseship returned fire with several nuclear missiles on Ithaca. Most were shot down by the Battlestar's defensive fire, but two made it through hitting the starboard flightpod, and the topside armor. The launch and landing bays on the starboard flightpod were devastated with most of the people inside killed instantly, and the topside armor was heavily damaged along with cracking throughout the armor's foundations. Battlestar Ithaca sent out ship to ship missiles followed by a half a dozen nukes to crack through the armor on the baseship and have the nukes enter to destroy the baseship. Half the missiles and nukes were destroyed by raiders, but the remainder passed through to hit the Baseship's vulnerable central axis. The baseship quickly went up in an explosion which sent debris into the nearby raiders.

The vipers were faring well against the raiders even as they were outnumbered two to one originally, but quickly the raider numbers were taken down bit by bit.

Battlestar Ithaca and the Gunstars moved to bear down on the remaining baseship together, firing their heavy KEW cannons as one. The concentrated fire quickly destroyed the damaged baseship.

The remaining raiders began jumping out, though the vipers continued destroying them until only a few dozen managed to escape. The capital ships quickly began to recover their vipers and prepared to jump to Picon.

**Aquaria**

Battlestar Rhodes and Gunstars Stargazer, Sturgeon, Redeemer, and Avenger jumped into close range around the three first war Cylon baseships.

Battlestar Rhodes fired missiles at the nearest baseship immediately after the jump, scoring damage across the ship. Several patrolling raiders were also hit and destroyed in the attack, along with the launch bay for raiders on the baseship – effectively trapping the ship's entire complement of raiders aboard. Vipers and raiders were launched from each ship, with only a slight advantage in numbers of raiders to vipers.

Gunstars Stargazer and Sturgeon fired their cannons on a baseship and simultaneously fired missiles at the central axis. The baseship was hit by numerous cannon and missile fire, with the ship's defenses taking down half the missiles fired. The baseship fired her entire nuclear missile complement at the Sturgeon, with nine nukes managing to pass through the surrounding vipers and Sturgeon's combined impressive but desperate defensive fire. Gunstar Sturgeon went up in a massive explosion as the nuclear detonations coupled together across the ship's hull; the explosion was so strong from the massive megaton bombs that much of the ship was vaporized on contact and very little debris remained after the light from the explosion dissipated. The surrounding vipers and raiders quickly moved to avoid the remaining debris flung outward. Gunstar Stargazer then launched a large complement of missiles and nukes while continuing to fire its cannons on the baseship. The baseship's armor was torn apart and a nuke passed through inside the ship to explode at the center axis, creating a chain reaction inside the baseship with the ship's fuel lines simultaneously affected. The baseship quickly erupted in an explosion as the chain reaction inside the ship reached critical mass, with debris spreading in various directions forcing vipers and raiders to evade or be destroyed if they were too slow.

Gunstars Redeemer and Avenger fired on the third baseship together. The baseship returned fire with its own cannons. Several raiders made an attack on the Gunstar Redeemer and were shot down by the ship's defensive fire, but one raider made it through to hit the Gunstar in a suicide run and causing heavy damage. Gunstar Avenger continued firing her cannons on the baseship, scoring some good hits. The baseship fired on the damaged Gunstar Redeemer with her remaining cannons and a large amount of missiles. Gunstar Redeemer's defense grid was overwhelmed as dozens of missiles impacted across the ship, several of them nukes, and the ship was destroyed within moments.

Battlestar Rhodes closed range with the baseship she had dealt a good deal of damage to already, and fired her cannons on the baseship's central axis in a high speed pass. The baseship exploded under the mass amount of cannon fire at point blank range. Battlestar Rhodes continued moving in her high speed pass to avoid the expanding debris of the ship.

Gunstars Stargazer and Avenger combined their cannon fire on the remaining baseship to quickly destroy the damaged ship. The remaining raiders started jumping out, with a few making one last run on the capital ships and were destroyed by defensive fire before they could deal significant damage. The vipers landed on the capital ships and the fleet soon jumped to Picon.

**Virgon**

Battlestar Durga and Gunstars Medusa, Neleus, and Aegaeus jumped in around three first war Cylon baseships.

Battlestar Durga quickly fired nuclear missiles at the nearest baseship upon arriving which hit the ship almost unhindered as the baseship's defensive fire could not fire on the missiles quickly enough – half the missiles hit the baseship head on and the baseship became a pile of molten debris in a flash explosion.

Gunstars Medusa, Neleus and Aegaeus had jumped in to point blank range on three sides around the starboard side baseship in the Cylon fleet formation. They fired their cannons on the starboard baseship together, and from three sides inflicted massive damage to the baseship. A combined missile and nuclear strike was able to destroy the baseship with most of the missiles bypassing the ship's defensive fire and hitting the baseship from multiple angles.

The third baseship was hit by several nukes from a stealth raptor, disabling the FTL drives and damaging other systems on the ship. Battlestar Durga and the Gunstars soon moved in on the baseship and combined their weapon fire to destroy the ship. The remaining raiders tried to disengage from their fight with the vipers to jump out, but all were destroyed by the vipers with several missile strikes among cannon fire taking out the enemy fighters. Battlestar Durga and the Gunstars recovered their vipers after SAR and jumped to Picon.

**Tauron**

Battlestar Glorious and Gunstars Peacekeeper, Brooks, and Hook jumped into close range around the three baseships blockading Tauron. Stealth raptors jumped in simultaneously and launched nukes at the baseships, disabling their FTL drives. A couple stealth raptors were destroyed before the remainder jumped out. Vipers and raiders were launched from each ship.

Battlestar Glorious fired her heavy KEWs continuously on the nearest baseship, with Gunstar Peacekeeper firing her own cannons on the baseship from the other side. The combined firepower quickly heavily damaged the baseship with little return fire and a missile strike targeting inside holes covering the damaged armor finished the baseship off.

Gunstars Brooks and Hook combined their weapon fire on the baseship in the center of the Cylon fleet formation. Missile strikes and cannon fire quickly damaged the baseship which still reeled from the nuke strike by the raptors, being the most hard-hit of the three baseships in the attack. The third baseship took the opportunity from not being focused on and charged towards Gunstars Brooks and Hook. Several missiles were fired followed by intense cannon fire as the baseship closed range with the Gunstars. The center baseship exploded from the continuous fire from Gunstars Brooks and Hook, but while their defensive fire took out the missiles fired before the baseship went down the third baseship scored several unhindered hits on both ships. As the remaining baseship closed range, the ship fired her cannons repeatedly on the Gunstar Hook which had taken the most damage in the previous strike. Gunstar Hook exploded from cannon fire making a lucky hit on the ship's tylium bunkers.

Battlestar Glorious began to close on the remaining baseship, along with the Gunstar Peacekeeper. The baseship continued firing on the Gunstar Brooks as the ships closed ranged with each other, with more defensive fire reaching the baseship from Gunstar Brooks – scoring numerous hits across the baseship's armor. The baseship unloaded a mass amount of missiles and nukes on the Gunstar Brooks at near point blank range. Gunstar Brooks was unable to take out all the missiles at such close range and with damaged defensive weapons from previous hits. The Gunstar Brooks went up in a massive explosion from several 50 megaton nukes exploding simultaneously and the baseship soon followed in its own explosion from such close proximity to the nukes going off – the chain reaction of the explosions quickly obliterating both ships. Many raiders and vipers nearby were also consumed by the explosion.

The remaining raiders jumped out in the ensuing chaos. The vipers returned to the capital ships once the last raider had jumped out and the fleet jumped to Picon once everyone was accounted for.

**Leonis**

Battlestar Arcadia and Gunstars Harpy, Tower, and Modesto jumped near the three baseships in the system. Raiders and vipers were launched from each ship, with a couple heavy raiders already outside the baseships moving towards the Battlestar Arcadia.

Battlestar Arcadia fired a spread of missiles and her cannons on the nearest baseship. Most of the missiles were destroyed by defensive fire, though others hit the ship's armor and one damaged the ship's FTL drives. The baseship returned fire and destroyed several of the Battlestar's cannons, with a nuclear missile also damaging the ship's starboard landing bay.

Gunstars Harpy, Tower, and Modesto closed with the center baseship, combining their cannon fire to score heavy hits across the baseship. The baseship returned fire on the Gunstar Harpy, and the third baseship combined its missile and cannon fire on the Gunstar Harpy as well.

Three heavy raiders landed on Battlestar Arcadia, and centurions started boarding the Battlestar from the previously damaged starboard landing bay. Several crewmen were gunned down by the centurions' gun fire. Vipers alerted the Arcadia of the heavy raiders boarding parties, and teams of marines moved to reach the centurions.

Gunstar Harpy was destroyed from numerous cannon fire coming from the baseship, and a nuclear strike in return from Gunstars Tower and Modesto quickly destroyed the center baseship as well. Gunstars Tower and Modesto moved to unleash a load of missiles and cannon fire in a high speed pass on the third baseship. The baseship took damage from the cannon fire, but quickly outmaneuvered the Gunstars and defensive fire took out the remaining missiles still aiming for the baseship. The baseship fired her cannons on the Gunstar Tower, scoring heavy hits to the ships weapons system and disabling several other systems aboard the Gunstar. Gunstar Tower quickly jumped out to retreat to Picon as her weapons system was compromised and the ship faced other systems' failure ship wide.

Battlestar Arcadia launched a nuclear strike in conjunction with heavy cannon fire on the central axis of the nearest baseship it had previously fired on. The baseship was hit hard by the cannon fire and simultaneously received missile hits before the defensive systems could recover and target them. The baseship lost all power and continued weapons fire then destroyed the baseship.

The centurions aboard the Battlestar Arcadia took down several marines and crewman. Two teams of centurions were taken down by marines using grenades and concentrated explosive rounds from behind defensive positions –such as hiding behind the corners of corridors and behind crates. The third team of centurions managed to rush past the team of marines it faced and continued firing on crewmen on the way to aft damage control. Dozens of people were gunned down and the centurions kept moving. The marines managed to catch the centurions from behind and in front of the entrance to aft damage control. Several marines were hit by the centurions' weapons fire before they were all destroyed by explosive rounds to the head.

The remaining baseship jumped out simultaneously with the surviving raiders. The vipers returned to the capital ships, and the ships jumped to Picon moments after the squadrons were aboard.

**Libran**

Battlestar Atlas and Gunstars Conflict, Lake, and Howler jumped near the three first war Cylon baseships at Libran. Raiders and vipers were launched from each ship as the capital ships began to close the distance between each other.

Battlestar Atlas fired its cannons at the baseship in the center of the Cylon formation and the baseship returned fire with numerous missiles; half were shot down and the remainder scored hits across Battlestar Atlas' armor. The baseship on Battlestar Atlas' port side started launching missiles and unleashing a bombardment of cannon fire on Battlestar Atlas.

Gunstars Conflict, Lake, and Howler focused on the third baseship, encircling the ship to fire concentrated cannon hits from multiple angles. The baseship fired its cannons at Gunstar Conflict, but was unable to efficiently lock on with defensive fire against the Gunstars as they kept moving around the baseship.

The two baseships pummeled Battlestar Atlas with concentrated cannon and missile fire. Her heavy armor shrugged off the hits, but numerous hull breaches and fires appeared around the ship. Dozens of personnel were lost in venting to put out a fire that grew too massive for DC units. Battlestar Atlas fired a nuke amidst anti-ship missiles at the more damaged of the two baseships. The baseships' defensive fire took out half the missiles, and was about to take out the nuke when it exploded in close proximity with the baseship – releasing a large EMP shockwave which hit the baseship full force, disabling several weapons and propulsion systems. The remaining anti-ship missiles scored heavy damage and created hull breaches across the baseship.

Gunstars Conflict, Lake, and Howler continued circling the third baseship and concentrated their cannon fire to create numerous hull breaches across the ship, cracking through the armor. The three Gunstars launched a mass missile strike at the holes in the baseship's armor their cannon fire previously made. The baseship was unable to cover against the missile fire from all three sides the Gunstars fired from, destroying only a small amount of the missiles coming at the ship, and quickly collapsed under the missile hits – exploding from its reactors and tylium bunkers being compromised.

One of the baseships facing the Atlas was partially disabled and began turning away to try and jump out. The other baseship had minimum damage and moved forward to strike the Battlestar with its cannon fire. Battlestar Atlas took heavy hits across the entire port flight pod, with a majority of the crewmen in the flight pod killed on impact of the cannon fire tearing through the ship's armor.

Gunstars Conflict, Lake, and Howler moved to help Battlestar Atlas with the baseship on her port side. The partially disabled baseship launched several nukes at the Gunstars at extreme range, and defensive fire from vipers and the Gunstars quickly destroyed every missile before they could reach their target. Several nukes fired from the baseship firing on Battlestar Atlas made it through defensive fire and impacted across Atlas' armor and inflicting heavy damage ship wide, killing hundreds on impact with fires threatening even more. Battlestar Atlas fired several nukes in retaliation at the baseship on her port side and managed to score a direct hit on the baseships' central axis, destroying the baseship.

The partially disabled baseship jumped out with the remaining raiders, though vipers took out several as they tried to disengage. The vipers returned to the capital ships after SAR was completed and the fleet soon thereafter jumped to Picon.

**Canceron**

Battlestar Calypso and Battlecruisers Greer and Hood jumped in close proximity to the three first war Cylon baseships. Raiders and vipers were launched from each ship, angling towards the offending colonial ships. Raptors jumped in following the raiders' departure, moving behind the starboard baseship and unleashed a stream of nukes before quickly jumping out. The baseship was unable to stop half the nukes and was destroyed when the nukes detonated on the baseship's central axis.

Battlestar Calypso closed range with the port side baseship and concentrated her cannon fire on the baseship's central axis. The baseship maneuvered to show its topside armor to Battlestar Calypso and fired what few cannons it could bear on Battlestar Calypso. Both ships took light to moderate damage along their armor.

Battlecruisers Greer and Hood moved towards the third baseship, each encircling on opposite sides of the baseship and firing their cannons on the baseship's armor. The baseship returned fire on both ships sporadically, unable to get a good fix on them as they continued moving, and launched a missile strike at Battlecruiser Greer. The ship's point defense took out most of the missiles and the rest hit the ship's dorsal armor.

Battlestar Calypso maneuvered to get in position to fire on the central axis of the baseship, while its cannon fire was scoring hits across the baseship's topside armor. The baseship maneuvered to level a majority of its cannons on Battlestar Calypso and fired directly on the starboard flightpod and Calypso's midsection, breaking through the armor and killing a few hundred crewmen inside. Battlestar Calypso fired five nukes at the central axis of the baseship and maneuvered away from the baseship. Four of the nukes were intercepted by raiders and defensive fire. The fifth nuke hit dead center on the baseship's central axis, causing secondary explosions across the ship. Repeated cannon fire from Battlestar Calypso quickly finished off and destroyed the baseship.

The third baseship fired all its cannons and a spread of missiles on the Battlecruiser Greer, while closing the distance between the two ships. Battlecruiser Greer took multiple amidst the ship, and a couple of nukes tossed in among the missile strike detonated along the ship's damaged hull. After the flash of light from the explosion disappeared, Battlecruiser Greer was a pile of molten debris. Gunstar Hood fired its own complement of nukes among anti-ship missiles and staggered the baseship, with a followed up heavy concentration of cannon fire. The baseship was hit hard, but managed to stay in one piece. The baseship made a suicide charge at Battlecruiser Hood, but Battlecruiser Hood managed to maneuver out of the way.

Battlestar Calypso rushed towards the heavily damaged baseship and fired a heavy concentration of cannon fire along the baseship's armor and scored a few hits on the central axis. The baseship exploded after a few moments from the concentration of rounds hitting inside the ship and causing explosions from the inside out.

The remaining raiders jumped out. After performing SAR operations the vipers returned to Battlestar Calypso and the fleet jumped to Picon.

**Aerilon**

Battlestar Thanatos and Battlecruisers Silvanus, Maia, and Nereids jumped to close proximity of the three first war baseships at Aerilon. Raiders and vipers were quickly launched from both fleets.

Battlestar Thanatos concentrated a heavy burst of cannon fire on the center baseship while quickly closing to point blank range with the baseship. The baseship returned fire with its own cannon fire. Both ships received minor damage along their armor. Once reaching point blank range, Battlestar Thanatos fired off a concentration of high heat rounds at the central axis of the baseship. The rounds impacted and left singing holes in the armor guarding the central axis, with some rounds boring deep into the ship.

Battlecruisers Silvanus and Maia approached the portside baseship and concentrated their cannon fire on it from separate directions. The baseship returned fire, maneuvering to focus its cannon fire on Battlecruiser Silvanus. All three ships launched anti-ship missiles; a majority were taken out by point defense, and a small amount impacted on each ships' armor scoring minor damage.

Battlecruiser Nereids approached the third baseship alone, keeping its distance while it circled around the baseship and firing at long range towards the baseship's hangar decks in order to destroy the raiders' refueling stations. The baseship moved to engage Battlecruiser Nereids trying to close the distance between them, though Battlecruiser Nereids kept moving out of reach. Concentrated cannon fire from Battlecruiser Nereids destroyed the top hangar deck on the baseship, and the baseship quickly rotated 180 degrees to keep the lower hangar deck out of Battlecruiser Nereids firing solution.

Battlestar Thanatos continued its barrage of high heat rounds on the center baseship's central axis and rather quickly the rounds compounded the damage on the central axis – literally melting through entire sections of the ship until enough damage ripped the baseship in half. The baseship then exploded as a chain reaction occurred from cannon fire reaching the ship's innards and tylium lines.

Battlecruisers Silvanus and Maia launched a missile barrage outward with missiles moving until they reached an equidistant point to begin rocketing toward the portside baseship from every direction. The baseship's point defense took out several missiles, but could not handle stopping the mass amount coming from every direction in a 360 degree attack. Many missiles impacted on the baseship's armor and the raider refueling stations were destroyed. Seeing a tactical disadvantage of the colonials reusing the attack, the baseship quickly maneuvered to close with Battlecruiser Silvanus. The remaining cannons on the baseship fired on Battlecruiser Silvanus, aiming toward the ship's stern section near the engines. Several rounds impacted the Battlecruiser Silvanus and ripped through the armor protecting the engines. Moments later the engines blew up from cannon rounds impacting on the same spot - burrowing a hole into the ship until hitting the engines head on. Battlecruiser Silvanus immediately lost all power and thrust capability ship wide, leaving the ship dead in the water.

Battlecruiser Nereids remained outside the third baseship's maximum firing range and continued circling around the baseship to keep it occupied. The baseship lost interest in following Battlecruiser Nereids and instead closed distance with Battlecruiser Maia. A barrage of missiles from the baseship forced Battlecruiser Maia to maneuver away from protecting Battlecruiser Silvanus to avoid taking any hits.

Battlestar Thanatos raced toward the third baseship and fired an array of nukes toward the ship's central axis. The baseship's point defense took out eight of the ten nukes, and then the baseship jumped out as the remaining nukes closed within seconds of hitting the ship.

The remaining baseship continued firing its cannons and a barrage of missiles at Battlecruiser Silvanus. Vipers maneuvered to take out the missiles, but the cannon fire hit Battlecruiser Silvanus unhindered and with no return fire. Battlecruiser Silvanus received a number of hull breaches and fires along the ship.

The baseship jumped out with the remaining raiders just as Battlestar Thanatos began to close distance with the ship. Vipers destroyed the straggling raiders, and SAR missions for pilots began.

Battlecruiser Silvanus was deemed unsalvageable when contact was made with the remaining command staff. The surviving crew was offloaded onto Battlecruiser Maia and the ship was scuttled. Soon after the vipers were recovered; Battlecruisers Maia, Nereids, and Battlestar Thanatos jumped to Picon.

**Sagittaron**

Battlestar Sciron and Battlecruisers Proteus, Boreas, and Aeolus jumped to the position of the three first Cylon war baseships at Sagittaron. Raiders and vipers were launched from both fleets.

Battlestar Sciron went directly between the port and center baseships in the Cylon formation, and fired her cannons at both baseships. Both baseships closed distance with Battlestar Sciron and fired their cannons at each flight pod of the Battlestar. The baseships received light damage across their hull and Battlestar Sciron took a few light hits to the flight pods.

Battlecruisers Proteus, Boreas, and Aeolus encircled the lone third baseship and fired their cannons on each side of the baseship while moving in a roving pattern – continuously moving to avoid return fire. The baseship's cannon and missile fire missed each Battlecruiser as they kept moving – not staying in one place long enough to get hit by weapons fire.

Battlestar Sciron continued to keep both baseships it faced busy, continuously firing broadside cannon barrages at both baseships while the baseships quickly encircled Battlestar Sciron. Both baseships took moderate damage from the continuous weapon fire along their hulls' armor, though no sensitive areas were targeted. While the human Cylons commanding the two baseships found this odd, they were eager to exploit the colonials' error and closed distance with Battlestar Sciron – dealing moderate damage with cannon fire to the heavy armor on Battlestar Sciron. While preparing to fire a nuclear barrage on Battlestar Sciron, neither baseship paid any attention to anything going on around them as they gleefully prepared to try and destroy the nearby Battlestar. As the Commander of Battlestar Sciron had planned in drawing in and damaging the two baseships, the time was ripe for a sneak attack; six stealth raptors, that had gotten into range undetected, unleashed a barrage of nukes at both baseships. The nukes went inside both baseships where Battlestar Sciron had intentionally damaged the hull armor, reaching the ships with no resistance given – and momentarily the nukes exploded destroying both baseships at once.

Battlecruisers Proteus, Boreas, and Aeolus launched a concentrated cannon and missile strike at the remaining baseship. The baseship quickly accelerated forward to close with Battlecruiser Aeolus in order to avoid the missile and cannons fire – taking minimal damage from a few hits rather than the crippling strike it would've received if the baseship hadn't moved. The baseship launched a dozen nukes at Battlecruiser Aeolus, and after the four surviving nukes passed through the ship's defensive fire a large explosion surrounded Aeolus. Charred debris was all that remained moments later. The baseship then jumped out, followed momentarily by the remaining raiders. After SAR, the vipers returned to their ships and the colonial fleet jumped out to Picon.

**Scorpia**

Battlestars Sleipnir and Trinity jumped into close proximity of the three first war Cylon baseships at Scorpia. Raiders and vipers were quickly launched from both fleets.

Battlestar Trinity went into the center of the Cylon formation and started firing her KEWs on the center and portside baseships. Both baseships returned fire with their own KEWs and moved closer in an attempt to bracket Battlestar Trinity.

Battlestar Sleipnir launched an array of conventional missiles, with five nukes mixed in, at the starboard baseship as she closed within firing range of the lone baseship. The baseship's point defense took out a majority of the missiles and nukes, though one nuke scored a hit along one of the baseship's extending arms. The arm, along with the weapons emplacements contained along its length, completely separated from the baseship in a large explosion. The baseship's offensive capabilities were severely hampered and she lost all maneuvering capability. The centurions and human Cylons were too busy trying to steady the baseship out of an uncontrolled spin to return weapons fire on the Battlestar Sleipnir.

Battlestar Trinity took several hits across her reinforced armor, opening a few hull breaches across the ship, but with her increased weapons emplacements she scored heavy hits to the two Cylon baseships. From KEW fire alone, the portside baseship quickly had mass hull breaches across the ship as the baseship's armor was shredded and the hull integrity was compromised. The center baseship maneuvered closer seeing her sister baseship taking more damage that would soon end her existence. The center baseship's entire nuclear compliment of nearly 100 nukes, along with over a thousand conventional missiles, launched at Battlestar Trinity. The commander of the Trinity ordered both the offensive and defensive cannons to fire in the midst of the missile concentrations. The numerous amount of cannon fire speared through the missile formations, and destroyed 90% of the mass amount of missiles and particularly nukes. Vipers near Battlestar Trinity were also able to destroy a few missiles before they closed distance with the Trinity. Despite the colonials' impressive defensive capabilities, seven nukes and over a hundred conventional missiles hit Battlestar Trinity. The reinforced armor of the Battlestar Trinity was tested as the damage reports from the missile hits started pouring in. Hull breaches and fires were reported across the entire port flightpod and nearby ship sections, FTL and several other crucial systems went offline ship wide, one of the ship's engines exploded killing all nearby personnel, and the ship started drifting in an uncontrolled spin as several maneuvering stabilizers went offline all at once. A casualty report after the battle would later show over a thousand crewmen were lost after that one devastating attack to the Battlestar Trinity.

Seeing the massive damage to the Battlestar Trinity, Battlestar Sleipnir quickly maneuvered to aid the other Battlestar – leaving the starboard baseship alone as it continued working on fixing its maneuvering capabilities. Battlestar Sleipnir fired six nukes at the center baseship in an effort to quickly remove it from the battle, in addition to firing her KEWs at the baseship. The center baseship destroyed three of the nukes with defensive fire, and then received heavy hits from the KEW cannons hitting her central axis – ripping right through the armor covering the sensitive spot on the baseship. The remaining nukes went through the hole in the armor the KEW fire created, and seconds later detonated inside the baseship. The baseship exploded in a large expanding mass of flaming debris. Surrounding ships maneuvered to get away from the moving debris; several vipers and raiders were too slow and were destroyed in a small explosion as the debris hit them.

Engineering technicians in the Battlestar Trinity worked determinedly and soon managed to get Battlestar Trintiy out of the uncontrolled spin she had been spiraling in. Battlestar Trinity started maneuvering out of the combat zone once able as the Commander soon realized they would only be in the way of the battle and the ship's crew needed time to get the FTL systems online to retreat from the battle.

The portside baseship launched a swarm of missiles at Battlestar Sleipnir from extreme range and started preparing to retreat from the battle as the human Cylons in the baseship's CIC realized their ship couldn't take too many more hits before the ship was destroyed due to its earlier damage from the Battlestar Trinity. Most of the missiles were destroyed by Battlestar Sleipnir's defensive fire as the gun crews benefited from the baseship firing its missiles from extreme range. Over a dozen conventional missiles lightly damaged the armor across Battlestar Sleipnir, doing little more than messing up the ship's paint job. A single nuke managed to survive the destruction of the missile swarm to hit Battlestar Sleipnir's starboard landing bay. Several crewmen died in the explosion and the landing bay was shut down while necessary repairs were started. Battlestar Sleipnir quickly gave chase as the ship's sensors detected the baseship was preparing to jump. The commander ordered the emergency thrusters to be used in order to reach the baseship before it could jump away; immediately the ship's thrusters were pushed to their limits and two well-placed detonations of charges enacted the "emergency thrusters" as an intentional explosion quickly pushed Battlestar Sleipnir forward, towards the fleeing baseship. Using the increased speed to catch the baseship, Battlestar Sleipnir quickly took advantage of its forward motion and fired a full spread of its KEWs on the fleeing baseship in a high speed pass – intending to pass the baseship as it unleashed a close range barrage to destroy the baseship. The cannon fire benefited from the speed of Battlestar Sleipnir in momentarily reaching the baseship with an increased force and the single barrage of KEW fire was therefore enough to breach inside the damaged hull of the baseship to ignite the baseship's sensitive fuel lines. Before the Cylons knew what hit them as they tried to flee, the baseship was destroyed and exploded. Battlestar Sleipnir and surrounding vipers quickly maneuvered away from the expanding debris of the baseship.

The remaining baseship had fixed her maneuvering capabilities, but a short discussion among the human Cylons led to the ship jumping out after seeing the other baseships destroyed. The surviving raiders started jumping out as well, with the vipers chasing them down and scoring several casualties in the raiders lines before the battlefield was empty of enemies.

Battlestars Sleipnir and Trinity recovered their vipers after completing SAR missions. Once necessary repairs were completed, the two Battlestars jumped out to return to Picon.

**Cylon Patrol Fleet 1**

Battlestars Nike, Galactica, and Pegasus jumped to the first patrol fleets staging ground. They encountered a resurrection ship, four modern baseships, and twelve patrolstars. Vipers and raiders were launched from each ship of the two opposing fleets.

Raptors jumped in around the resurrection ship and unleashed several nukes that easily decimated the crucial Cylon ship, and much to the dismay of the Cylons the Resurrection ship was destroyed. Stealth raptors jumped in around the baseships and unleashed nukes and ship to ship missiles to damage the baseships' FTL drives. Several raptors were destroyed by patrolling raiders before their FTL systems could activate and the remaining raptors were able to jump out.

Battlestars Nike, Galactica, and Pegasus maneuvered as one to close with the baseships in a three pronged attack. In this manner, the three heavily armed Battlestars were able to combine all of their cannon fire on a single baseship at a time. Moments later under the heavy KEW fire, the center baseship exploded. The three Battlestars then launched a combined nuclear missile barrage at the next baseship in the Cylon formation and though several missiles were destroyed by Raiders and defensive fire, the baseship was destroyed as a concentration of nukes hit the baseship's central axis.

The two remaining baseships were then cut off in between the three Battlestars and unable to help each other as Admiral Adama had planned. Without FTL capability, the two baseships were helpless to escape and the human Cylons could see their deaths were imminent from the intense firepower the battlestars could put out. A mass amount of heavy raiders were launched from both baseships filled with human Cylons and they quickly jumped out. Several regular raiders also started jumping out rather than staying to defend the two baseships and risking their final death if resurrection didn't work.

Having reloaded their weapons for a second strike, raptors jumped in around the twelve patrol stars and fired off missiles and a couple nukes at the ships. With little weapons capability or armor, the twelve patrolstars quickly collapsed under the raptors' attack.

Battlestars Nike, Galactica, and Pegasus separated in two directions to quickly destroy the two remaining baseships. Battlestars Nike and Galactica attacked the portside baseship, and combined their heavy KEW cannon fire to destroy the baseship. Battlestar Pegasus unleashed hell on the remaining baseship with all the cannons across the massive ship, and encircled around the ship to hit it from every angle. The baseship returned fire and dealt minor damage in return, but soon collapsed under the heavy cannon fire barraging its armor reaching the tylium lines and the ship exploded.

The remaining raiders tried jumping out as the vipers kept attacking them, destroying dozens of them with few casualties. When the last raider was gone, the fleet underwent SAR across the debris field for pilots. Once finished, the vipers returned to the Battlestars and the fleet jumped out to Picon.

**Cylon Patrol Fleet 2**

Battlestar Vanguard, Warstar Argona, and Combatcruiser Audacious jumped to the second patrol fleet's staging ground. There they encountered four modern baseships and twelve patrolstars. Vipers and raiders were quickly launched.

Raptors jumping in with the colonial fleet then fired their missile compliments at the patrolstars. The patrolstars exploded from conventional and nuclear missile hits with little defensive fire returned given the patrolstars' meager weapons capabilities. The raptors jumped out quickly after finishing off their targets before the surrounding raiders could destroy them.

Battlestar Vanguard engaged the portside baseships and fired her cannons at its central axis. The baseship returned fire and launched a missile strike containing four nukes among anitship missiles. Most of the missiles were stopped by point defense and a single nuke made it through to hit Vanguard's port landing bay – shutting down the landing bay for an extended period. Battlestar Vanguard launched a nuke strike at the central axis, and several missiles entered the holes in the central axis' hull from the previous cannon fire hits. Within moments the portside baseship exploded in nuclear fire.

Warstar Argona engaged two baseships in the center of the Cylon formation. Argona focused her main KEWs on the port side baseship. Concentrated fire quickly ripped through three of the baseship's arms – greatly reducing the baseship's offensive capability. The baseship tried to disengage to escape the punishment Warstar Argona was handing out. The other baseship launched a large missile strike with over a dozen nukes among nearly a hundred anti-ship missiles. Point defense and vipers took out approximately 75% of the missiles, and the remainder hit Warstar Argona across her heavily armored hull. The anti-ship missiles did little damage to the armor, but three nukes hitting the same area created hull breaches and fires along the ship. Warstar Argona then returned fire with her heavy KEWs on the less damaged of the two center baseships – heavily damaging that ship as well with numerous hull breaches along with the overall hull integrity compromised and fires ship wide throughout the baseship.

Combatcruiser Audacious engaged the starboard baseship, and was a surprise to the human Cylons aboard given its small size and the fact it was attacking the baseship alone. Combatcruiser Audacious had done little more than weapons simulations since its quick construction on the travel to Avalon, and the ship's commander was eager to test out the ship's capabilities on live targets – particularly the nearby Cylon baseship. Combatcruiser Audacious' forty missile launchers opened up and unleashed a swarm of over a hundred missiles at the baseship. Surprised at the ship's capability unlike any other colonial ship in swarming missiles, the Cylons were ill-prepared to defend against the attack. At least 60 missiles hit the Cylon baseship all across the ship, with several missile concentrations burrowing deep into the ship's armor and then exploding – dealing crippling damage to the baseship. A couple of high explosive missiles fired from Combatcruiser Audacious in a second barrage then hit the baseship's damaged central axis and utterly obliterated the baseship in a large explosion.

Warstar Argona faced the two heavily damaged baseships, and unleashed a barrage of heavy cannon fire on one baseship, quickly destroying the ship as the hull was ripped straight through until cannon fire cut the baseship in half and after which it exploded. Warstar Argona then fired a stream of eight nuclear missiles at the remaining baseship that had its three extended arms ripped off previously by cannon fire. With little defensive capability remaining, the baseship was destroyed by half of the nukes concentrated on the baseship's central axis.

The remaining raiders started jumping out and the vipers mopped up the stragglers. SAR missions were quickly completed to find some surviving pilots. The vipers then returned to the Battlestars and the colonial fleet jumped out to Picon.

**Picon**

**Several hours after the rescue mission and strike at the Cylons began**

**Battlestar Galactica's War Room**

"Reports of the battle have finished coming in Admiral," Lieutenant Gaeta said as he handed Admiral Adama a folder of the reports from the fleet.

"How many did we lose?" Commander Tigh asked apprehensively as Admiral Adama looked over the printed reports and the compilation of data Lieutenant Gaeta had charted.

"We lost five Gunstars and three Battlecruisers. Every ship engaged in a battle is reporting at least light damage, with several Battlestars and other ships reporting heavy damage. Trinity in particular will take a lot of time and effort to repair, with her damage too encompassing to risk sending her back to Avalon with the rescue fleet. Dozens of raptors destroyed as well as nearly 1000 vipers lost along with many of their pilots. Approximately 18,000 crewmen lost total though that's just the current estimate," Admiral Adama said somberly.

The room went silent at Admiral Adama's sad declaration.

"How many of the bastards did we get in return?" Commander Tigh asked, narrowing his eyes angrily.

"1 resurrection ship, 24 patrolstars, and 32 out of 38 total baseships, with 24 of those being the weaker first Cylon war baseships. Along with several heavy raiders and approximately 4000 raiders," Admiral Adama said sighing, still contemplating their own losses with grief.

"Not quite a perfect battle, but certainly a powerful loss to the Cylons," Athena Eight said determinedly.

"We certainly learned a lot in combat and recovered battle data for future use that could aid the war effort," Admiral Thompson said optimistically, trying to instill confidence in the group as several in the room still wore expressions of shock or sadness.

"There are also the reports on the evacuation reaching completion," Lieutenant Gaeta said as he gathered another folder with the pertinent reports in his hands, "Approximately 1 million people have been placed on the evacuation transport ships, and various supply and cargo ships were filled to capacity. Numerous stores of alcohol, food, clothing, art, books, and everything else that could be recovered from Picon were placed in the storage ships. It should be an adequate source of supplies to normalize society on Avalon for millions of people while production shops are created to continue production of supplies upon the fleet's arrival to Avalon."

"Then the next part of our mission begins," Admiral Adama said grimly.

"Right, which Commander should lead the military escort fleet with the evacuation ships back to Avalon?" Admiral Thompson asked.

"I'm afraid, you must lead the escort fleet to get our people home," Admiral Adama said sadly, anticipating Admiral Thompson's response.

"But sir!" Admiral Thompson protested unhappily, wanting to continue the fight against the Cylons.

"You are the most capable leader for this part of the mission, and your ship will singlehandedly be able to defend against any threat you might come upon on the return trip. Which is why the damaged ships that are capable enough will be returning to Avalon as the escort fleet under your command as planned," Admiral Adama said.

"Is that a safe option given what the escort fleet is guarding?" Commander Lee Adama asked, narrowing his eyes thoughtfully.

"As long as Admiral Thompson stays on a safe route to bypass the Harvesters, it's unlikely he will meet any resistance requiring those ships to fight on the return trip. It's highly unlikely they'll come across Cylons. Given that the remaining ships here will have to hold off the Cylons until the evacuation fleet returns, it makes sense to have some of our more damaged ships be escorts in leaving the combat zone for Avalon," Admiral Adama said.

"I understand sir. I will get the fleet back to Avalon safely," Admiral Thompson said, resigned to not getting to fight Cylons but resolute to maintaining his duty.

"We should get underway to keep to schedule and keep the Cylons unaware of what's going on," Admiral Adama said.

"Aye sir," the assembled group repliedd and all left the War Room to do their jobs.

**Picon, 1 hour later**

**Galactica CIC**

"The evacuation and escort fleet is underway to begin the travel back to Avalon. Kathy is prepping to use the Heavy Raider brain system aboard Warstar Argona," the communications officer said.

"Alright. Send a message to Admiral Thompson: 'good luck and see them home safely'," Admiral Adama said.

"Message sent sir," the communications officer replied moments later, "his reply reads 'good hunting'."

Admiral Adama smiled briefly as he watched the evacuation and escort fleet began jumping away from Picon on the planned return trip to Avalon. 9 Assaultstars, 6 colossus heavy military transports, 80 large civilian transports, 50 heavy transports, Warstar Argona, Battlestars Atlas, Calypso, and Ithaca were among the colonial fleet returning to Avalon. It was hoped that with fewer ships returning the journey time could be shortened a bit more.

"Have the remaining damaged ships continue to cycle through the three cradle docks for repairs as fast as possible. Remind the repair crews that we will be facing a lot of battles soon. Also, send a message to Starbuck to begin coordinating a search team of Raptors in all Cylon controlled areas – particularly beyond the armistice line," Admiral Adama said.

"Right away sir," the communications officer replied, turning back to the comms set to relay the messages.


	24. 3x06 Hit and Run Pt2

**The Last Exodus: Hit and Run – Part II**

**Two Days Later**

**Acheron Asteroid Belt**

**Galactica War Room**

"Reports show that the Cylon fleet took the decoy as we hoped after 'finding' our fleet yesterday at the dwarf planet Persephone from triangulating our position through our broadcasted message across all communication channels throughout the Cyrannus system. The Cylons will no longer threaten the defenses at Picon now that they know our fleet is jumping around the colonies independent of defending Picon. They'll be looking around the colonies for our fleet. They would take heavy losses in a fight against the defense grid or our fleet, and currently our fleet will provide the adequate bait to keep the Cylons from focusing on Picon. As planned sir," Lieutenant Gaeta said grinning widely, and beaming at Admiral Adama.

"Not to mention that the Cylons likely don't even know about our evacuation mission on Picon because of our attack throughout the colonies and jamming until the fleet left for Avalon, after which our remaining fleet left Picon undetected. If they don't know that we've already been to Picon to remove many of the people there, they'll still be expecting us to make a move on Picon to recover our people. They'll want to set a trap to nuke our defenses and fleet at Picon now to decimate our forces, so it's likely they'll leave Picon alone as we hope until they can maximize the damage done there at the opportune moment," Athena Eight said hopefully, meeting Admiral Adama's eyes.

Admiral Adama considered Athena silently, weighing what had been said before responding. "All we can do is hope for the best. In all likelihood, the Cylons will want to eliminate our fleet as a more important threat in comparison to Picon. Now we need to begin attacking the Cylons to keep them off balance until the evacuation fleet returns," Admiral Adama said, looking at Starbuck expectantly.

"As ordered, we've compiled a list of targets from intel on the Cylons and the colonies. Scouts confirmed the information Kathy and Leoben gave us of Cylon controlled areas. Stealthstar Banshee also went deep into Cylon space previously, and scouts confirmed some rebuilding of facilities in those areas that we may want to hit," Starbuck said, looking down at the plot table in the center of the War Room and gathered the figurines across target areas.

Finishing laying the figurines on the plot table for fleet targets Starbuck continued, "there are several targets we can easily take out and a few strategic missions we can carry out as part of our overall operation of distracting the Cylons. There's the Danthus system where the Banshee previously went which has several production facilities rebuilt from Banshee's assault. We've located over 30 mining facilities across Cylon controlled territories which are key to their fuel and production lines for their entire fleet. Raptor scouts found several staging grounds for small Cylon fleets that we could exploit. We've also mapped out targets in colonial space where the Cylons have been using our assets; mining systems, tylium facilities, and colonial military/scientific outposts. As requested, Ragnar Anchorage was also scouted out."

"There's also several civilian freighters and liners on Picon that we can use to in the meantime to continue bringing people from the other colonies to Picon as General O'Rilley was doing before. This'll make it easier to evacuate everyone when the fleet returns. There are also some cargo/storage ships we can use in addition to some cargo ships around the colonies we might be able to fix on the cradle docks. We could gather more supplies from the other colonies and maybe recover some cultural artifacts of the colonies to bring home with us," Helo said.

"See that it's done Helo, we'll need all the people and supplies we can gather onto Picon. Remind General O'Rilley of the changed circumstances requiring more caution than ever since the Cylons will be paying more attention to Picon than ever before. Starbuck, begin planning the missions with each segmented part of the fleet. We need to complete multiple subsequent missions over the next few weeks," Admiral Adama ordered sternly.

"Yes sir," Starbuck and Helo responded, getting up to leave and to start working on their coming missions.

**Day 484 Since the Fall, approximately 51 days until fleet returns from Avalon**

**Cylon Space far beyond the Armistice line, Danthus System**

Battlestars Rhodes, Durga, and Glorious jumped into the Danthus System surrounded by Gunstars Triton, Avalanche, Stiletto, and Calamity. Three basestars hovering in space above the Cylon's ground facility on the planet began to maneuver to intercept the colonial fleet upon detecting their ships on dradis. 300 raiders already on patrol in the system were joined by several hundred other raiders leaving the baseships to reach the colonial fleet. Approximately 400 vipers launched from the Battlestars and Gunstars to meet the oncoming fighter force.

The Battlestars and Gunstars remained at their jump point, doing little more than maneuvering into a defensive position and allowing the Cylon fleet to approach them. The Battlestars were arranged in a left to right straight line with the Gunstars positioned among them in the center of the formation, to allow them to primarily focus on defending the Battlestars in lieu of attacking the basestars themselves.

The three baseships quickly accelerated and closed distance with the colonial fleet, then began firing their cannons at the Battlestars and unleashing dozens of anti-ship missiles at the capital ships. The Gunstars point defense augmented the Battlestars' defensive fire and eliminated all the missiles before they could reach their targets. The cannon fire hit the Battlestars' heavy armor doing little damage. The Battlestars returned fire with their more powerful KEW cannons and dealt light damage to the baseships.

The vipers and raiders engaged in numerous dogfights in the space in between the baseships and the Battlestars. The vipers were outnumbered by 3 to 1, but the pilots outclassed the raiders in battle and with the numerous amount of raiders most of their cannon fire made contact with an enemy. Ten minutes into the battle, the raiders' numbers dropped by several hundred with only a couple dozen vipers lost in return – with several pilots having ejected to be picked up by SAR.

The Battlestars took several missile hits from a swarm of anti-ship missiles by the baseships and fired several dozen missiles at the baseships in return, as the ships continued exchanging cannon fire as well. Numerous armor and hull breaches occurred across the baseships and more than one of the basestars' extending arms were blasted in two or heavily damaged which heavily decreased the baseships' fighting capabilities. The landing bay on Battlestar Rhodes was shut down from numerous weapon hits, numerous crewman were lost on each ship from fires, and Gunstar Stiletto took heavy damage from a nuke exploding just before reaching the outer hull.

With the Cylon fleet moved far away and engaged with the colonial fleet, the orbital facility and ground production facilities were vulnerable to attack. Raptors jumped into range of each Cylon territory and unleashed several nukes at each facility which arrived unhindered to destroy all the Cylon controlled areas on the ground and the orbiting station. The Raptors jumped out safely after completing their mission.

Battlestar Glorious and the Gunstars rushed forward together to concentrate their KEW cannon fire on the portside baseship. The baseship quickly succumbed to the cannon fire from the Battlestar and four Gunstars, and exploded once the tylium lines were compromised in the baseship. Battlestar Glorious and the Gunstars swiftly maneuvered to escape the debris of the baseship. Gunstar Stiletto was hampered by the damage previously sustained to many of her systems and was hit by a raider and the baseship's debris as she was unable to maneuver out of the way in time. Stiletto simultaneously exploded into more flaming debris from the secondary explosions throughout the ship's innards.

The remaining baseships and raiders jumped out moments later with the loss of the system's facilities and the human Cylons wish to conserve resources with the loss of any tactical advantage in the battle had they continued to fight. Several raiders were destroyed by vipers before they could escape. Vipers returned to their ships in the fleet and the colonial fleet soon jumped out as well before Cylon reinforcements could arrive.

**Day 485 Since the Fall**

**Ragnar Anchorage**

Battlestars Galactica, Nike, Vanguard, Pegasus, and Combatcruiser Audacious jumped into a close distance from the entrance to Ragnar Anchorage. The remains of several destroyed colonial warships and civilian fleet ships littered the nearby area; signs of other colonial fleet ships that had answered Galactica's call to regroup at Ragnar and arrived too late to rendezvous with the Galactica – finding only Cylon baseships laying a trap for other ships looking to arrive at the anchorage. Five baseships and several groups of raiders were on patrol guarding the opening to Ragnar Anchorage in case any other colonial fleet ships arrived to use the Anchorage's supplies. The Cylon fleet swiftly started maneuvering towards the colonial warships upon their arrival on dradis.

The colonial fleet maneuvered to match each ship to a baseship in one on one combat. Gun crews began painting targets on each baseship. Vipers began launching to meet the oncoming Raiders.

Combatcruiser Audacious fired a swarm of dozens of missiles at a nearby Cylon baseship. Several missiles were shot down by Raiders and defensive fire, though the Cylon's were still unprepared for the mass of missiles in a few short seconds – something no other colonial ship was capable of. Approximately 20 missiles managed to hit the baseship, with several exploding on impact of the baseship's armor in a concentrated location and others moving into the open holes in armor and exploding once deep inside the baseship. Secondary explosions rolled throughout the baseship and within moments the baseship blew up.

Battlestars Galactica and Nike quickly tore through the baseships they faced with their heavy KEWs. The baseships scored some minor hits on the Battlestars' heavy armor with cannons and missiles evading the massive Battlestars' point defense. Numerous heavy KEW fire shredded the baseships' armor, tore off 3 of the baseships' extending arms, and quickly ignited large explosions once the central axis was compromised – obliterating the two baseships.

Battlestar Vanguard fired at the baseship she faced with broadside cannons and encircled the ship, consistently firing at each area of the baseship. The baseship got off a nuke strike at Battlestar Vanguard which moderately damaged Vanguard's port flight pod, causing numerous fires requiring venting to keep the ship in one piece. Continuous KEW fire on the baseship quickly ripped through the baseships armor on its topside and blasted off numerous missile launchers and cannons across the baseship.

Battlestar Pegasus barraged the fifth baseship with her frontal cannons as she closed distance with the baseship, and switched to salvo fire with the majority of her KEW cannons. Two of the baseship's extending arms were ripped through as the salvo fire heavy ordinance rounds made contact – ripping right through the armor to the other side and splintering the metal arms off completely. The baseship hit Pegasus with some anti-ship missiles dealing light damage with her remaining missile launchers, and began backing away from the fight trying to regain stability with its damaged structure.

The two remaining baseships jumped out after seeing the rest of their fleet destroyed and sustaining heavy damage to themselves. Numerous raiders began jumping out as well, some destroyed by vipers as they tried to flee and others attempting suicide runs on the Battlestars were destroyed by defensive fire. Over two hundred raiders were destroyed in the battle, with over 60 vipers destroyed and pilots killed in action as well.

The colonial fleet rendezvoused over the entrance to Ragnar anchorage and began launching Raptors with teams of deck gang and marines to board the anchorage. Several recovered cargo/storage ships jumped in to join the salvage mission once ordered by Admiral Adama by Raptor courier. The marines found several bombs and traps inside the anchorage once they arrived, along with a few centurions. A few dozen personnel were killed or wounded before the anchorage was safe to begin recovery/salvage operations.

As Admiral Adama had hoped, a majority of the weapons the original Galactica had left behind were still stored inside the anchorage. Galactica had only been able to take on so much storage of munitions with time/space constraints, and as such left a majority of levels in the anchorage untouched. Enough weapons were moved to supply a Battle group, with the Battlestars' munitions replenished and topped off, while cargo/storage ships grabbed what was left. The colonial fleet jumped out after recovering their personnel and storing as many munitions as they could before reinforcements could arrive.

**Day 493 Since the Fall**

**Cylon mining system, nicknamed Ruby**

Battlestars Thanatos, Sleipnir, Sciron, and Gunstars Neleus, Medusa, Avenger, Aegaeus, Stargazer, Lake, Tower, Conflict, and Peacekeeper jumped to the final targeted Cylon mining system. For the last week the colonial fleet had attacked the other Cylon mining systems, destroying several of the Cylon outposts at a time, and had taken only a few vipers losses. Each time there had been no Cylon baseships guarding the mining facilities, even after the colonial fleet had made it clear the mining sites were a target. This mining site was somehow different from the others in some way as three baseships were guarding the outpost, along with the standard 10 squadrons of raiders.

The three baseships rushed towards Battlestar Sciron, encircling around the Battlestar on three sides even as Battlestars Thanatos and Sleipnir maneuvered opposite the port and starboard baseships. The three baseships were in a perfect position to shell Battlestar Sciron all at once, while the Battlestars faced each baseship one at a time. The Gunstars were positioned alongside each Battlestar in order to provide more defensive fire cover against the waves of raiders; consisting of over 400 raiders that guarded the Cylon outpost which was reinforced by several hundred more raiders leaving the baseships. Vipers and raptors quickly launched from the colonial fleet to hold off the raiders.

The three baseships shelled Battlestar Sciron with their combined KEW fire and dozens of missiles from three sides. Battlestar Sciron took light damage from the cannon fire and the few missiles that made it past the ship's point defense. Battlestars Thanatos, Sleipnir, and Sciron fired their KEWs on the baseships individually, dealing light damage to the baseships' armor.

Raptors fired their loads of anti-ship missiles at the swarms of raiders, destroying dozens of oncoming raiders. Vipers then met the raiders head on. The vipers were numerically outmatched, but for every viper that went down 3 raiders were destroyed in return. The Gunstars helped the vipers keep the raiders away from the Battlestars, and destroyed several dozen with KEW fire among concentrated groups of raiders.

The three baseships continued shelling Battlestar Sciron, combining their KEW and missile fire on the Battlestar while keeping to only defensive fire against the other Battlestars. Raiders helped destroy many anti-ship missiles the Battlestars fired at the baseships, while others made it through and lightly damaged the baseships hull as well as starting a few fires amidst the ships. Battlestar Sciron started taking moderate to heavy damage from the constant barrage of cannon and missile fire from three directions.

Dozens of heavy raiders jumped into close proximity of the Battlestars and Gunstars. Vipers destroyed several heavy raiders as they stabilized their systems before they could fire their weapons. Once the raiders had stabilized their weapons systems after their jump they began launching their loads of missiles; unleashing over 500 nuclear missiles at the colonial fleet from close range. The surviving heavy raiders then jumped out. The vipers, Gunstars, and Battlestars concentrated their defensive fire as best as they could, taking out over half the missiles. Seeing the likely loss of Battlestars Thanatos and Sleipnir from over 100 of the remaining missiles closing on their positions, Gunstars Lake and Tower moved in front of the Battlestars as they continued firing flak at the missiles, and took the impact of the nuclear missiles that passed through their defensive fire. Several nukes also hit Gunstars Neleus, Medusa, Avenger, Aegaeus, and Peacekeeper. Moments after the nukes hit the ships; Gunstars Lake, Tower, Peacekeeper, and Aegeus blew up in large explosions which expanded outward destroying several nearby raptors, raiders, and vipers. Gunstars Neleus, Medusa, and Avenger also took heavy damage from a few nukes exploding in close proximity of them, which forced their commanding officers to order them to jump out to the rendezvous point while they were still able.

Battlestar Thanatos continued firing its KEWs on the portside baseship and launched a dozen nuclear missiles aimed at the baseship's central axis. The baseship had already taken moderate damage from the KEW hits along its armor and more holes created around the armor covering the central axis made a window of opportunity to enter the baseship for the six surviving nuclear missiles that made it through the baseship's defensive fire. The baseship lit up and was destroyed in a large explosion moments after impact as the nukes went off inside the ship at its nerve center.

The two remaining baseships took moderate damage from Battlestars Sciron and Sleipnir's continued KEW fire. Moments after spinning up their FTL drives, the two baseships jumped out of the system. The raiders stayed as they were unchanged and continued attacking the vipers. The vipers continued battling the raiders and the Gunstars moved forward to aid in destroying them which quickly led to many raiders being destroyed. Battlestars Sleipnir and Thanatos maneuvered forward to begin firing their KEWs on the mining installations, leaving Battlestar Sciron behind as the crew rushed to make repairs from the massive damage sustained due to the baseships' concentrated fire. After a few minutes the mining installations were destroyed by the Battlestars' KEW fire.

In the midst of the crew's celebration on a mission accomplished, three heavy baseships jumped in around Battlestar Sciron and immediately launched several hundred missiles along with nukes at close range towards Battlestar Sciron. Being away from the other ships due to their moving towards the mining installations, Battlestar Sciron had little support to defend against the missile assault. Nearly half the missiles were destroyed by nearby vipers and Battlestar Sciron's limited defenses damaged from the ship's earlier battle, but it was all for naught as the remaining missiles hit Battlestar Sciron in larger numbers with several nukes tossed in. The anti-ship missiles tore through Battlestar Sciron's armor across the ship, and the nukes that hit the ship slipped in through several holes in the ship's hull. Moments later, internal explosions ripped through Battlestar Sciron's innards – igniting the ship's fuel lines and then Battlestar Sciron was destroyed in a large explosion. The three heavy baseships maneuvered out of the way of the closing debris and momentarily jumped out of the system. The raiders began jumping out immediately after, and the vipers began mopping up stragglers until the system was clear of all Cylon threats. The vipers returned to their ships after a short SAR of the few survivors found in the battlefield, and soon after the colonial fleet jumped out of the system before more Cylon forces could regroup and arrive to attack the fleet.

**Day 496 Since the Fall**

**Tauron Moon Minos, Colonial Scientific outpost**

Battlestar Arcadia jumped to within close proximity of the lone Cylon baseship standing guard over the colonial scientific outpost on the Tauron Moon Minos. Gunstars and Strikestars were positioned around the system providing ECM and communications disruptions to keep the Cylons from getting off a message requesting support. Marines had successfully begun infiltrating the scientific outpost from stealth raptors, destroying many of the centurions in their path as they moved, and were closing on the mainframe computer for the outpost.

Battlestar Arcadia began shelling the baseship with its heavy KEWs, quickly destroying several of the raiders' launch pads before they could begin leaving the baseship. Arcadia's vipers then began launching and faced a significantly reduced raider count. The baseship maneuvered to position its undamaged sections towards Arcadia, and began firing a large amount of missiles towards the Battlestar. Vipers and Arcadia's point defense destroyed many of the missiles, though several dozen of the anti-ship missiles made contact across the ship's armor. Battlestar Arcadia shrugged it off, the crew rushing to put out fires as well as control damaged areas, and continued firing her KEWs on the baseship.

Marines continued destroying centurions in the outpost, with several marines being killed in action or wounded be the centurions' return fire. The team of marines reached the mainframe computer and specialist Tally began working to bypass heavy colonial security measures and extract the mainframe's information. Several marines stood guard over the entrances to the mainframe as the rest of the team continued on through the outpost, destroying more centurions on their way. A few marines carried backpack nukes they were ordered to position in pre-arranged detonation points to destroy the outpost after they finished extraction of the bases' resources and escaped.

The baseship began taking heavy damage after several minutes of continued concentrated fire on the ship's armor across its extending arms and to the hull covering the ship's insides like the engines. Battlestar Arcadia took a nuke to the port flight pod across the outside armor and began having stabilization issues due to the extensive damage lop siding the ship, with the port flight pods lack of thrusters forcing the ship to tip sideways. Vipers began annihilating the raiders until very few were left, using double teaming on the Cylons for the first time in any of their fights against the Cylons - with their numbers being about even to the vipers at the battle's start.

After complicated efforts by specialist Tally to get through the mainframe's defenses, which hadn't been done since the last time the colonials controlled the base, the team of marines evacuated and escaped on raptors. The charges were detonated a moment later, destroying the whole outpost base. The raptors jumped out of the battlefield.

Battlestar Arcadia regained enough control of its stability to maneuver away from the baseship. Once a safe distance away, Arcadia fired several nukes at the baseship which passed into the baseship – easily evading the pitiful point defense the baseship could put out with very few working cannons. The baseship exploded in an expanding array of debris, Arcadia continued maneuvering out of the way to avoid being hit. Vipers began landing on the starboard flight pod and once all were aboard, Battlestar Arcadia jumped out of the system.

**Day 500 Since the Fall**

**Colonial Erebos Asteroid Belt**

Raptors jumped into the Erebos asteroid belt among the large asteroids, using them as cover to hide their emergence from Cylon dradis. The team of 30 raptors slowly crawled forward hiding behind the asteroids as they neared the Cylon mining facilities in the asteroid belt. Five baseships stood in the center of the asteroid belt, clear enough of asteroids to form a tightly wound circle for a base of operations. Squadrons of raiders patrolled throughout the asteroid belt, though most kept to a tight perimeter around the mining installations rather than constant patrolling to check the entire asteroid belt – something the colonials were there to exploit.

A dozen raptors accelerated towards the tylium refinery at the edge of the asteroid belt and began firing interceptor and nuclear missiles at the installation on the asteroid. Raiders quickly began moving to intercept once the colonials appeared on dradis, with several raiders near the refinery rushing to destroy the missiles. 80 percent of the missiles were destroyed by the raiders' fire and several raiders moving to meet the missiles head-on, while the remainder continued on and hit the refinery. The two nukes that managed to hit the refinery caused a chain reaction of explosions through igniting the tylium and the installation was destroyed in a fiery blaze. Raiders fired on the raptors as they tried to evade and jump out, destroying eight of the raptors while the other four managed to escape.

The remaining eighteen raptors now accelerated to their own targets of mining installations across the asteroid belt with the raiders all moved away towards the edge of the asteroid belt. They immediately started firing their payload of nuclear missiles at the installations once they closed range to firing distance. The majority of raiders were too far away to stop the attack, with the few raiders available working double time to destroy as many missiles as they could. Enough missiles survived to hit and destroy the mining installations in the asteroid belt. Debris from the asteroids was launched in every direction; with several large asteroids hitting and destroying one of the Cylon baseships, heavily damaging another baseship, destroying multiple raiders on their way to the raptors, and destroying five of the raptors too close to the explosion that got hit by debris.

It was chaos in the asteroid belt as the raiders and baseships maneuvered to evade the debris and other asteroids disturbed by the attack. Four raptors were destroyed by raiders that managed to reach them, with one raptor being hit in a head-on collision by a raider. The remaining raptors quickly jumped out once their FTL was working moments later, after taking some damage from smaller debris flying about the system.

**Day 503 Since the Fall**

**Colonial Ouranos Asteroid Belt**

Raiders patrolled throughout the Ouranos asteroid belt, spread out in smaller groups to prevent a repeat of the Erebos asteroid belt attack. Four baseships were spread out in groups of two on opposite sides of the asteroid belt, managing the system's operations and monitoring the defense of the mining installations.

Thirteen unmanned Raptors jumped to their pre-programmed coordinates around each mining installation: right in the center of the raider formations. Seconds later, each Raptor unleashed a huge EMP blast aimed at the groups of Raiders surrounding the mining installations - the electronics on the raptors were fried in the process. The surrounding swarms of Raiders all went offline and started drifting out of control, several colliding with each other and exploding. Defensive weapons on the mining installations also went offline.

Twenty-six Raptors jumped in around the now defenseless mining installations, careful to avoid the drifting Raiders as they maneuvered to within firing range of the installations. Several nukes were fired from each Raptor aimed at all the mining installations, and with no resistance the nukes exploded across the mining installations destroying everything. The Raptors quickly started jumping out as the remaining active Raiders in the system began converging towards them.

**Day 510 Since the Fall**

**Delphinus System – Cylon Space, Cylon Fleet Staging Ground**

Three captured Heavy Raiders full of colonial marines jumped to close proximity of the fleet of six Cylon baseships in the Delphinus system of Cylon space. The three Heavy Raiders separated and headed towards three targeted baseships, flying amongst patrolling Raiders unsuspecting them to be more than couriers for news from other Cylon forces. The Heavy Raiders docked with three of the baseships and the teams of marines quickly disembarked, beginning their mission to reach the main control room to plant nukes there to destroy the baseships after they got out in their Heavy Raiders.

Several centurions and humanoid Cylons were quietly take out by the marines on their way. A couple marines were injured at the same time, with other marines killed by centurions in compromising situations.

**15 Minutes later**

Battlestars Vanguard, Rhodes, Nike, and Combatcruiser Audacious jumped in around the Cylon baseships, staying out of the targeted debris area designated for the three baseships boarded by marines. Gunstars Triton, Avalanche, Thaddeus, Calamity, Conflict, Modesto, Avenger and Howler jumped in around the Battlestars and Combatcruiser, with 2 per capital ship for fighter cover support.

Battlestars Vanguard and Rhodes began firing their KEWs at the starboard baseship, while Battlestar Nike fired at the center command baseship, and Combatcrusier Audacious fired on the portside baseship. The capital ships fired sporadically at the three baseships containing boarding parties of marines in order to not waste too much firepower on them, and at the same time not let the Cylons figure out a reason for why they weren't being attacked.

Raiders and vipers were launched from each ship, and established skirmish lines in between the capital ships.

Two of the Heavy Raiders with the surviving colonial marine boarding parties exited two of the targeted baseships and jumped out of the battlefield. The third team never made it back to their escape craft. At the exact planned time moments later, the three boarded baseships exploded from planted nukes in the baseships' central control rooms. A huge wave of energy was unleashed and vaporized everything within the confines of the baseships. The resulting pressure and expansion of hot gases in the fireball of the nuclear explosion began a blastwave expanding outward shredding the baseship and acted like a piston pushing the baseships' debris in all directions. Two other baseships were hit by the debris, taking moderate damage and were forced to perform emergency maneuvers to avoid sustaining any more serious damage. Several raiders and even a few vipers were also destroyed by debris. The other ships quickly maneuvered out of the way, with the colonial fleet mostly well out of the way as they expected the blast wave to be coming.

Battlestars Vanguard and Rhodes continued firing their KEWs at the starboard baseship, and launched dozens of anti-ship missiles aiming along the baseship's superstructure at point blank range. A couple missiles were destroyed by defensive fire, though the majority impacted heavily across the baseship's superstructure. Coupled with the continued simultaneous heavy KEW rounds of two Battlestars and previous hits of debris from the destroyed baseships, and within two minutes the baseship was exploding from massive damage dealt ship wide. Before it was destroyed, the baseship dealt some damage to both Battlestars from its own anti-ship missiles – though both ships were still combat capable.

An attack wing of raiders with several heavy raiders approached the Gunstars guarding Battlestar Vanguard, making it past the vipers in their way. Several raiders were destroyed by defensive fire, while the remaining raiders continued on their path – determined to reach their target. The raiders and heavy raiders launched dozens of missiles at the Gunstars as they continued closing with the ships. Many of the missiles were destroyed by defensive fire, while a few others impacted along Gunstars dealing some damage to their armor and weapons. Several more raiders were destroyed by the Gunstars' point defense and approaching vipers redirected to attack the group of raiders. Though severely depleted in numbers since their attack began, the remaining group of raiders reached their target and launched themselves at the gunstars. Half a dozen raiders impacted along both gunstars, causing large simultaneous explosions on both Gunstars Calamity and Conflict until smoldering piles of debris were left behind after the flash of light from the explosion was gone.

Battlestar Nike continued firing her KEWs at the center baseship, which had taken significant damage from debris of all three destroyed baseships due to the command baseship's position in the Cylon fleet formation. Battlestar Nike approached the baseship, closing to point blank range, and fired her laser cannons across the entire baseship. The command baseship had heavier armor than other baseships, but the extensive damage from debris, KEW and anti-ship missile hits weakened the armor to the point of collapsing – the laser cannon hits simply were the cherry on top ensuring the ship's destruction and caused the baseship to be utterly obliterated.

Combatcruiser Audacious attacked the remaining portside baseship, firing swarms of missiles at the baseship's superstructure. The first salvo of missiles hit along the baseship's armor, opening holes across the ship in several areas, and with few missiles stopped by Raiders or the baseship's defensive fire. A second salvo of missiles in swarm was fusion missiles which burrowed through the baseship's armor and exploded inside the ship with a large concentrated force. With a dozen fusion missiles that hit across the baseship after burrowing deep inside the ship, the effect of multiple nukes going off inside the baseship was attained and the baseship succumbed in an explosion.

The remaining raiders in the battlefield quickly began jumping out to safety, with vipers continuing to attack and destroy several of them before they could disengage. Once the last Cylon ship was gone and SAR was completed, the vipers returned to their Battlestars and the fleet jumped out.

**Day 514 Since the Fall**

**Cylon Space, System nicknamed Jasper**

Three baseships were in a formation guarding the facilities on the system's lone planet below. Another three baseships guarded the facilities on the surface of the planet's moon. Raiders were on constant patrol throughout the system, with raiders inside the baseships on standby and ready to go at a moment's notice.

Battlecruisers Hood, Maia, Proteus, Nereids, and Boreas jumped in formation around the portside baseship in the Cylon fleet formation above the planet. Heavy cruisers Cataphract, Adder, Aether, and Asther jumped in around the center baseship. Heavy cruisers Chrysaor, Celestra, and light cruisers Agamemnon, Cleo, Atropos, and Persia jumped in around the starboard baseship.

Strikestars Aventine, Melinoe, Trophonius, Crasher, Fury, Megaera, and Orpheus jumped in around the portside baseship in the Cylon fleet above the moon. Escortstars Sandstorm, Tauron, Echelon, Glacier, and Tigon jumped in around the starboard baseship. Gunstars Thaddeus, Stargazer, Triton, and Neleus jumped in around the center baseship.

The colonial fleet ships jumped in close around each Cylon baseship and launched tactical nukes as well as anti-ship missiles as soon as they jumped in, quick enough before raiders could intercept. Large breeches in the baseships' outer hull were created by missile impacts, and the colonial fleet ships began attempting to fire their KEW rounds into the damaged areas. The launching bays for raiders were heavily targeted to prevent more raiders from joining the battle from the baseships. The colonial ships had jumped in too close for the Cylon's defenses to engage automatically and as a result their first missile strike went unhindered. The baseships shook from numerous missile and KEW hits.

Raiders quickly began maneuvering toward the colonial ships, though many couldn't immediately reach them given their range of patrol in the system from the assumption that the baseships could protect themselves with their raiders. This assumption was quickly costing the Cylons as the launch bays were heavily damaged and some even destroyed, preventing most of the raiders from getting out of the baseships to attack the colonials. The few raiders in range were quickly eradicated by the colonial ships' flak fields.

The colonial ships closed distance with their larger targets, firing missile after missile at point blank range from the baseships. A combination of high explosive anti-ship missiles and tactical nukes were wreaking havoc on the baseships' armor, ripping off large whole sections of the ships' hull and armor altogether. KEW rounds also continued to strike the baseships unimpeded. Each strike burrowed deeper and deeper into the Cylon baseships, as explosions rocked the baseships.

Several raiders emerged from the launch bays on the baseships with some effort from centurions, angling towards the colonial ships. Promptly causing the colonial ships to strengthen their flak fields as they continued to fire determinedly at the baseships, aiming to heavily damage the baseships and preferably take out their FTL drives.

Many raiders were destroyed by the colonial ships flak fields, with some getting off a few missile impacts on the colonial ships. A heavy raider managed to hit Strikestars Aventine and Melinoe with nuclear missile hits, destroying both ships. The remaining Strikestars then jumped out of the battlefield having accomplished their primary mission and given their vulnerable lesser defensive capabilities compared to the other ships as they were meant for fast attacks only.

The baseships were all taking heavy damage ship wide, but began launching a counter attack with their remaining cannons and missile launchers. Numerous anti-ship missiles and nukes were launched at the colonial ships. The colonial ships' flak screens were virtually lit up with constant exploding missiles being intercepted, with more and more continuing to come. Repair teams were sent to affected areas on colonial ships for damage incurred by cannon and missile hits.

Raiders throughout the system began converging around the colonial ships, reinforcing the few surviving raiders from the baseships. They added a large amount of missiles and cannon fire being launched at the colonial ships. Several colonial ships were overpowered by the numerous missiles getting through their flak screens; Battlecruisers Hood and Maia, Gunstar Thaddeus, Heavy cruisers Cataphract, Chrysaor, Adder, and Asther, Light cruisers Agamemnon, and Persia, and Escortstars Glacier, and Tigon were all destroyed as they succumbed to heavy damage.

As the raiders were all now around the colonial ships, and the baseships were all likewise occupied with attacking the colonials, the Cylon bases across the planet and moon were left undefended. Several raptors jumped in above the Cylon controlled facilities and unleashed numerous nukes that hit unimpeded across every Cylon created area – destroying everything of value. The raptors jumped out to safety before raiders could turn around and heads towards them.

As colonial ships were destroyed, so were several baseships. The portside baseship above the moon succumbed to the heavy damage from KEW and missile fire, and was joined in destruction by the center baseship above the planet that received multiple nuclear hits to its damaged central axis. The other baseships all had heavy damage as they continued their attack on the colonial ships. Achieving their primary goal and moving to their secondary mission, the remaining colonial ships jumped out of the battlefield – having all taken varying amounts of damage. Raiders and missiles aimed at the colonial ships continued on their path through the space where the colonials had been.

Battlestars Durga, Glorious, and Thanatos jumped in around the Cylon baseships above the planet, and Battlestars Pegasus and Vanguard jumped in around the Cylon baseships above the moon. The Cylon baseships were already heavily damaged, and incapable of jumping out. Most of their raiders had been destroyed in their launching bays and others were lost in battle against the other colonial ships. Vipers began launching from the Battlestars, with a slight numeric advantage to the colonial fighters.

Battlestars Durga and Glorious combined their KEWs and anti-ship missile fire on the portside baseship. With most of the Cylon defenses damaged or destroyed, it didn't take much before the baseship succumbed to the concentrated firepower of the two Battlestars. Battlestar Thanatos concentrated its KEWs and missiles on the starboard baseship, and a single nuke was fired once the baseship's defenses were completely disabled; with the missile impact upon the central axis destroying the baseship.

Battlestar Pegaus focused its KEWs and missiles on the center baseship, dealing heavy damage to the baseship which had sustained moderate damage to that point. The baseship launched its entire remaining nuclear complement of 36 nukes at Pegasus. Nearby vipers and Pegasus point defense destroyed all of the nukes, though two of the nukes exploded just outside of impacting Pegasus dealing moderate damage to the ship's port flightpod and the armor over the ship's superstructure. A couple nukes launched by Pegasus in response quickly impacted upon and destroyed the center baseship.

Battlestar Vanguard aimed its anti-ship missiles at the starboard baseship. The baseship had sustained so much previous damage that the first salvo of missiles went deep inside the ship's hull and ignited the baseship's tylium lines – momentarily the baseship exploded in a large erupting flame ball of debris.

The vipers destroyed many of the raiders, taking few losses given the Cylons lack of ability to use their pin wheel formation on the pilots – simply due to not having the numbers to do so. A raptor in the viper formation carrying specialized warheads unleashed several missiles among the remaining large Cylon formation. Rather than exploding to destroy the raiders, the warheads detonated in a large expanding but focused EMP blast which pulsed through each and every one of the remaining raiders – simultaneously shutting them down and leaving them drifting. More than one raider exploded from impacting with other raiders in their continued forward motion. Raptors and heavy lifters began arriving to connect with and tow the raiders left in one piece back to the Battlestars. Where they were immediately worked on to control the raiders' brain computers before they turned on again, with Athena Eight and a few other human Cylons working on the raiders.

SAR was completed on the numerous colonial vessels and for pilots. Once everyone was accounted for and the vipers returned to their ships, the fleet jumped out of the system before Cylon patrols came to check in.

**Day 521 Since the Fall**

**System nicknamed Malachite - Cylon Space, Cylon Patrolling Fleet **

Six baseships moved at sub light speed through the system, receiving courier heavy raiders from other systems in Cylon space giving reports on the current state of Cylon space and reports keeping track of sightings of the colonial fleet. Other likewise Cylon fleets were gathered in Cylon space in preparation of attacking colonial fleets as they attacked Cylon controlled areas. Numerous raiders patrolled the system, with many centered around the baseships and others remaining aboard the baseships until they were needed so the ships could jump away at a moment's notice.

Over 40 raiders jumped into the system, diverging in smaller groups to form up with other raider formations without particular notice by the Cylons as more than reinforcements. All these raiders had markings across their wings, which went unnoticed by the Cylons as well, deemed unimportant by the watchful centurions and altogether unnoticed by working human Cylons.

A few minutes later, several colonial ships began jumping into the system. Heavy cruisers Thalia, Phobos, Cimtar, Therion, and Aether jumped in near the raider formation outside the portside baseship which was at the far end of the Cylon formation. Gunstars Triton, Avalanche, Stargazer, Avenger, Medusa, Neleus, Howler, and Modesto jumped in around the portside baseship, just around/past the raider formation the heavy cruisers had jumped near.

The heavy cruisers quickly fired upon the raiders they'd jumped in around, destroying them all with little resistance and leaving the portside baseship at the far end of the Cylon baseship formation with a hole in raider protection. The Gunstars closed to point blank range and immediately fired high explosive anti-ship missiles at the baseship – dealing heavy damage, with the baseship not responding quickly enough to impede the missile salvo. The Gunstars then started firing their KEWs on the baseship.

The raiders in the system quickly moved towards the colonial ships, with several raiders moving to cover the baseships and the baseships' full raider complements started launching. Preparations had been made to prevent a repeat of the last battle with the colonials, and raiders were positioned with specific instructions to stop an attacking fleet while protecting the baseships at all costs.

A tactical nuclear missile salvo from the Gunstars impacted on the damaged baseship, and momentarily destroyed the baseship in a large explosion. Approaching raiders quickly began arriving around the Gunstars and fired their cannons and missiles at the Gunstars. The Gunstars started up their flak screens destroying several raiders, and taking out many missiles – though some weapons fire impacted on the Gunstars. The Heavy cruisers met up with the Gunstars and began adding their defensive fire to the destructive force taking out many of the oncoming raiders.

Battlestars Nike, Galactica, Vanguard, Rhodes, Durga, and Combatcruiser Audacious jumped in near the three starboard side baseships in the Cylon fleet formation. Vipers were launched to meet oncoming raiders from the baseships. Several raiders attacking the other colonial ships redirected towards the vipers.

Many raiders boarded the baseships to replenish their fuel and ammo supplies, several of which bearing markings on their wings. Other raiders maneuvered towards the baseships for their protection, some of which bore marks on their wings. Another group of raiders formed up near the formations attacking the Gunstars, all bearing marks on their wings.

Battlestars Nike, Galactica, Vanguard, Rhodes, and Durga fired their heavy KEWs on the three starboard side baseships, as well as their anti-ship missiles in large salvoes on the baseships. Combatcruiser Audacious fired a large swarm of missiles on the starboard side central baseship of the Cylon fleet formation. Numerous missiles and cannon fire were launched from the baseships in retaliation. The baseships took heavy damage from the concentrated fire of multiple Battlestars, with several missiles making it past their defensive fire and dealing some good hits. The center baseship exploded from the added concentrated fire from combatcruiser Audacious in a large swarm of high explosive missiles that went through its defensive screen easily and added massive damage to the ships other hits until the tylium lines were compromised causing a ship wide explosion. Battlestar Durga received an impact from a nuclear missile, dealing moderate damage to its ventral armor and opening several hull breaches as well as starting fires – with many crewmen lost in the damage and ensuing chaos. Other Battlestars took some light hits from the Cylon baseships.

The Gunstars made a micro FTL jump to near the central portside baseship in the Cylon fleet formation. The Heavy cruisers also jumped out of the battle. Before the baseship could respond, the Gunstars unleashed several missiles and a KEW salvo upon the baseship –dealing massive damage. Surrounding raiders stopped many of the oncoming missiles, saving the baseship from destruction as it were, and approached the Gunstars while firing their own missiles at the colonial ships. Several raiders bearing markings on their wings in the raider formation began destroying other raiders attacking the Gunstars.

The raiders bearing markings on their wings maneuvered towards the raiders passing through where the Gunstars and Heavy cruisers had jumped away from, and started attacking the other raiders. Several raiders with marks on their wings surrounding the other remaining portside baseship in the Cylon formation started attacking raiders guarding the baseship. A particular couple of raiders with marks on their wings exited the baseship after having unleashed several nukes inside, which momentarily destroyed the baseship.

The two baseships the Battlestars were attacking on the starboard side of the Cylon fleet formation succumbed to their heavy damage and exploded from numerous KEW and missile hits reaching deep inside their damaged hulls. Battlestars Rhodes and Durga received more missile hits beforehand taking moderate damage across their superstructure, as well as the other Battlestars taking some light damage from limited oncoming weapons fire.

The Gunstars destroyed the remaining baseship with a nuclear missile salvo outright causing an internal explosion in the baseship through its exposed hull. Many nearby raiders were destroyed by the colonial friendly raiders bearing markings on their wings, with few casualties as the raiders were uncertain how to fight each other even after taking losses from the original surprise attack.

The large group of colonial friendly raiders bearing marks on their wings quickly destroyed most of the enemy raiders in their way, working as a unified force. The enemy raiders took heavy losses in the opening salvo, and couldn't work together against the oncoming raiders that were pairing up in teams against each individual enemy raider one by one – meaning few friendly raiders were lost.

The remaining enemy raiders were quickly wiped out by combined viper and friendly raider forces. SAR missions began to expeditiously regroup survivors. Colonial friendly raiders landed on Galactica where Athena Eight waited to look after them, and the vipers returned to their appropriate Battlestars. The colonial fleet soon jumped out before another Cylon fleet could get word of the attack and regroup at the fleet's location.

**Day 528 Since the Fall**

**Troy, colonial mining outpost**

A single basestar hovered over the planet of Troy, with several squadrons of raiders patrolling around the planet and near the basestar with active dradis scans running to check for ships approaching the planet. Centurions operated all the domed mining installations on the planet left behind by the colonials, with support ships occasionally leaving the planet full of various metals.

Battlestars Arcadia, Sleipnir, and Thanatos jumped in around the lone basestar – encircling around the baseship from three sides. Vipers and raiders were momentarily launched from each ship. Battlestars Arcadia, Sleipnir, and Thanatos immediately began firing their KEWs on the baseship, with the baseship returning fire as best it could and focusing mostly on Arcadia. The baseship took some heavy hits, with light damage being dealt on the Battlestars.

Vipers rallied against the raiders, cutting down their numbers quickly, with viper casualties rising as well. Raptors jumped in around Troy at a close distance and unleashed their payload of nukes to destroy the mining installations. A few nearby raiders managed to destroy a couple of the nukes, with the remainder hitting and obliterating their targets. Several raptors were destroyed by raiders launching missiles before the remainder could spool their FTL to jump out.

Five basestars jumped into close proximity of Battlestars Arcadia, Sleipnir, and Thanatos. The baseships immediately started firing their KEWs on the Battlestars, scoring a few good hits before the Battlestars point defense kicked in. Arcadia's port flightpod took a few heavy impacts which worsened as the welded sheets of metal put over the damage taken from a nuke impact in a previous battle bent inward, fracturing the armor and couplings holding the flight pod in place along the Battlestar. Arcadia lost stabilization control and started drifting in a sideways/lopsided motion.

Battlestars Sleipnir and Thanatos fired off another salvo of HE rounds at the heavily damaged baseship until it exploded, then began turning to meet the baseships while trying to keep Arcadia somewhat behind them.

Raiders launched from the newly arrived baseships and formed up with the surviving raiders entangled with vipers, changing the ratio in favor of raiders to vipers as more vipers became casualties. Several heavy raiders full of centurions launched to land on and board Arcadia, with two heavy raiders destroyed by the flak barrier in their way while the rest crashed into the ship's starboard flightpod.

The five baseships shelled Battlestars Sleipnir and Thanatos with their KEWs and fired several missiles at them. Sleipnir and Thanatos took light to moderate damage on their armor across their superstructures, and continued firing back at the baseships. Thanatos' starboard landing bay was shut down after taking heavy damage, with multiple fires raging in the ship as viper fuel tanks and munitions racks ignited and exploded inside the flightpod. Thanatos and Sleipnir fired at each of the baseships, and focused a large amount of their KEWs attention on the nearest baseship between them – hoping to take it out of the fight as quickly as possible.

Arcadia regained a relative amount of stabilization with enough thrusters coming back online, while DC crews rushed to put out mass fires and patch up hull breaches. Marines started taking fire by oncoming centurions as the centurions moved through the ship. Several marines and crewmen were gunned down, with over a dozen centurions gunned down from explosive rounds to the head. The remaining teams of centurions continued moving towards important targets on the ship; aft damage control, CIC, and auxiliary fire control.

The baseship closest to Sleipnir and Thanatos exploded after taking heavy damage from their combined KEW fire ripping through the armor and going into the baseship's central axis. Sleipnir and Thanatos continued to take damage from the other baseships' prolonged KEW and missile fire. A nuke hit Sleipnir's dorsal armor, dealing damage internally. Several weapon emplacements were blasted off both Battlestars as they endured the heavy oncoming fire from the baseships.

Centurions reached the CIC of Arcadia, meeting the team of marines standing guard there in battle as they blasted into the room. Arcadia's XO was shot in the head, with several other officers hit as well – corporal Jenkins took a bullet for the Commander pushing him out of the way. Marines fired on the centurions, destroying the six of them with HE rounds to the head and body until they stopped moving. The teams of centurions heading to auxiliary fire control and aft damage control were stopped just shy of reaching the areas, with several marine and crewmen casualties before the machine were stopped.

Battlestars Arcadia, Sleipnir, and Thanatos began spooling their FTLs to jump out, with a general recall to the vipers. Vipers disengaged from battling raiders to combat land on the Battlestars, several vipers getting hit by weapons fire from raiders re-doubling their efforts to destroy them. The basestars continued firing on Battlestars Sleipnir and Thanatos, scoring hits across their superstructures; causing decompressions, fires, hull breaches, and KEW cannons exploding from impacted weapons fire. Several additional missiles impacted on the Battlestars as the vipers landed, removing their defensive fire from protecting the Battlestars. The baseships also took some good hits across their armor from continued KEW fire by the Battlestars.

Once the vipers were all aboard, Battlestars Arcadia, Sleipnir and Thanatos hastily jumped out of the battlefield. Raiders and missiles continued on through the space where the Battlestars had occupied.

**Day 531 Since the Fall**

**Scorpia**

Battlestars Glorious and Vanguard jumped into high orbit over Scorpia, accompanied by Gunstars Avalanche, Avenger, Medusa, and Neleus. Several civilian transport and cargo ships had already jumped into Scorpia's atmosphere, 20,000 feet above the ground where groups of survivors had been located – escorted by several vipers.

Scorpia was otherwise clear of dradis contacts, and the brief rescue mission, like others before it, was quickly underway. Survivors would be picked up along with artifacts and supplies across the planet.

2 hours passed without incident and the transports/cargo ships began returning to the skies and prepared to jump out, to return to Picon with their loads of supplies and survivors. In high orbit over Scorpia, the colonial fleet remained on patrol with vipers at the ready on CAP. Suddenly, dradis started squawking as five baseships jumped in at maximum engagement range around the Battlestars.

Raiders and remaining vipers were launched, and the two forces quickly met in between the opposing fleets.

The baseships launched a large salvo of missiles at the colonial fleet. Several missiles were destroyed by vipers, and many by the colonial ship's point defense. Other missiles impacted along the armor covering the colonial ships' superstructures. A nuke found its mark on Glorious' topside armor; destroying several turrets, and causing fires as well as hull breaches which DC teams quickly moved to take care of.

Battlestars Glorious and Vanguard closed distance with the baseships accompanied by Gunstars Avalanche, Avenger, Medusa, and Neleus, and began returning fire with their KEWs as well as missiles. Vanguard maneuvered to take on three of the baseships on her own, while Glorious and the Gunstars each took the other two.

Vanguard launched a few missiles and her port side KEWs at the baseship to port, dealing light damage along the baseships armor. Vanguard focused more heavily on the nearest center baseship of the three she faced, firing her remaining KEWs and several nukes with anti-ship missiles at the baseship's superstructure. The center baseship took heavy damage, with one of the impacting nukes hitting the ship's engines and leaving the baseship dead in the water. The other two baseships quickly maneuvered around the disabled baseship to continue firing on Battlestar Vanguard.

Battlestar Glorious maneuvered toward a baseship at the end of the Cylon fleets formation, firing her KEWs and several missiles at her target. The baseship took moderate damage from impacting KEW hits, and a few missiles getting past raiders and point defense. The baseship then moved closer towards Glorious, and fired her own missiles and cannons across the Battlestar; scoring several hits across the ship's armor and causing decompressions in multiple sections in the Battlestar.

Gunstars Avalanche, Avenger, Medusa, and Neleus maneuvered to encircle around the remaining baseship. Several nukes and KEW fire were launched at the baseship as the Gunstars continued moving around the baseship. The baseship took heavy damage from two nukes that made it past point defense, with KEW fire damaging her armor ship wide. The baseship tried returning fire, with much of its cannon fire and missiles missing as the Gunstars kept moving - avoiding much of the weapons fire and the rest doing light damage only.

The transport and cargo ships over Scorpia's surface began jumping out over the next few minutes until they were all gone, safely returning to Picon to unload their latest loads of supplies and people.

Battlestar Vanguard took moderate damage as several missiles impacted across her superstructure, with two nukes opening hull breaches and starting large fires requiring venting in several sections past the ship's impacted ventral armor. Vanguard continued firing her KEWs at the two baseships, going right in between them and firing on each using her entire port and starboard side KEW cannons. Both baseships took moderate to heavy damage from the close range barrage, several of their extending arms being destroyed and other hull breaches opening across the armor covering the two ships.

Battlestar Glorious continued taking several missiles and cannon fire hits across her armor taking moderate to heavy damage, with one of her engines being destroyed – killing those nearby inside the ship. The opposing baseship received several anti-ship missile impacts across her armor, opening several hull breaches which were widened by KEW hits hitting several of the same spots. Glorious unleashed a nuclear strike with six nukes to take out the damaged baseship. Four of the missiles were intercepted by nearby raiders. One nuke was destroyed just outside the baseship by defensive fire, still managing to damage the ship's armor from proximity to the explosion. The remaining nuke continued on near where the other had exploded, going inside the baseship's large open hull breach, and detonating. The baseship then erupted in a large mass of flaming debris as its tylium bunkers were compromised, with raging explosions internally until succumbing to destruction. Glorious maneuvered to escape the debris, taking some more damage as several pieces of debris impacted across the ship's hull.

The fifth baseship engaging the Gunstars had a hard time locking on the Gunstars as they continued moving around to avoid weapons fire, and thus maneuvered to lock onto a single Gunstar first. The baseship launched twenty nukes at Gunstar Neleus as the baseship closed distance with Neleus, making it impossible to simply maneuver out of the way of the missiles path. Twelve nukes were destroyed by Neleus' point defense, and three more exploded as vipers destroyed them as they quickly moved to protect the Gunstar. The remaining five nukes continued moving to impact across Gunstar Neleus, all in the 50 megaton range. A large piercing light erupted, blinding nearby ships and those looking at Neleus' status. A fiery cloud of explosions ran along Neleus and once the light diminished momentarily, nothing was left in the place of Gunstar Neleus.

Battlestar Vanguard pushed past the two baseships, which were recovering from their latest batch of weapons impacts, and unleashed several nukes at the disabled baseship. Nearby raiders quickly maneuvered to take the impact of three of the nukes, being destroyed in large explosions just outside the baseship. Two other nukes continued on, impacting on the central axis of the disabled baseship. The baseship lit up in an explosion running from the inner core of the ship throughout the rest of the ship, destroying the baseship.

The remaining three baseships then spun up their FTLs and jumped out of the battlefield as the colonial ships maneuvered for another pass to attack them. Raiders began jumping out in sequence, with several more falling to viper fire before the skies were clear of Cylons.

SAR was quickly launched, and not long after vipers returned to their ships. The colonial fleet then jumped out as soon as they could to avoid Cylon reinforcements.

**Day 534 Since the Fall**

**Picon**

A lone raider drifted among debris from previous battles, staying out of sight of patrolling vipers and off the dradis detection systems of the various PDS' in orbit of the planet Picon. The raider had gathered necessary data analyzing the colonials' movements across Picon several times over previous weeks and now readied to quietly jump out and report its latest data to the Cylon fleet preparing to attack the colonials.

The raider moved past the debris providing it cover, and jumped out with the colonials none the wiser of its presence. The raider jumped to a nearby system where over 20 baseships awaited, with several patrolling squadrons of raiders on CAP. Not long after, the raider boarded one of the baseships and setup to upload its latest data for the baseships group of human Cylons to look over.

**Cylon Fleet Preparing to attack Picon**

**Command Baseship**

Jack Cavil was looking over the latest reports from the colonial fleet's movements when John Cavil burst into the baseship's control room.

"I see you've made your way to our fleet preparing to attack the colonials. Have you come to join us in the attack or spout more indignation about the colonials' survival?" Jack asked dully after glancing at John before returning to the reports in front of him.

John narrowed his eyes at Jacks tone, coming to a stop behind him.

"I've come to ensure you don't frack up this mission, like you've fracked up every other encounter with the colonials since I left you in charge. Just look at the reports of what the colonials have done in the past few weeks since the return of their fleet to Cyrannus. Not to mention they used the Vanguard, a ship which we had taken over and had complete control over that we could've destroyed, but you convinced me you had a plan to use it against the colonials. Look how that turned out Jack," John said snidely.

Jack breathed in deeply and sighed outwardly, and rolled his eyes in annoyance.

"The colonials may have succeeded in going far beyond our expectations of their survival, but everything's going according to plan. They'll soon all be cooped up on their colony outside of Cyrannus, and then we'll destroy them all in one fell swoop," Jack said calmly, inwardly cringing with irritation and yelling out his frustration at John in his head.

"They took over Picon, the base of our operations for the Cylon fleet when I left. They have control of the defense grid over the planet, with over a million survivors protected on the ground gathered and rescued from various colonies. Not to mention they have a few million survivors at their colony, with over 30 Battlestars and various support ships, as well as several docks and shipyards. Enlighten me on how anything so far has gone according to THE PLAN," John said angrily, yelling the last bit loudly.

"I'm not going to go over this with you again, John," Jack said angrily, narrowing his eyes as he faced John. After a moment of thought he continued shrewdly, "we have an important mission coming up to destroy a large portion of the colonials' military fleet and push their remaining forces to their colony. If you're so sure you can fix things and do better than I have in leading the fleet since you left, why don't you take over command of this operation? I'll wait on the resurrection ship and watch the master show me just what should've happened in leading the fleet to ensure everything goes according to the plan."

John smiled at Jack handing him the opportunity which gave him the perfect excuse to get rid of him once the battle was over, and the perfect way to justify Jack's 'mistakes' as solely his in order to regain his de facto leadership control over Cylon society.

"Very well Jack, I'll take over control of the fleet and destroy the colonials military fleet at Picon," John said confidently, grinning widely at the thought of finally regaining what was his and getting rid of his opposition so easily.

Jack handed John the fleet reports silently and left for a transport to the resurrection hub.

**Day 535 Since the Fall**

**Picon**

**Galactica CIC**

"The deadline for the rescue fleet to return a jump away from the colonies is approaching sir. Should we send out an escort with orders for them?" Lieutenant Gaeta asked expectantly, shuffling on his feet and looking at Admiral Adama.

"No, there's not much point in secrecy anymore. The Cylons have been watching us at Picon for weeks and even more so since our fleet returned to Picon a few days ago. They're planning to attack us with a large fleet shortly, so it's to our benefit to make a show of the rescue fleet arriving. They'll want to wait a while for us to complete the rescue operation before attacking our fleet, that way they can catch us exposed and still have the rescue fleet return to Avalon to have all our people in one place for them to attack. The fleet has orders to jump here shortly after their arrival if no escort is waiting for them and that's what we want now," Admiral Adama said.

"Yes sir," Lieutenant Gaeta said.

"Have the fleet complete final preparations. We can expect the Cylons to deliver a large fleet for us to fight, and we'll need everything ready to go at a moment's notice. Also, check that General O'Reilly has his preparations ready to make the evacuation go swiftly and smoothly," Admiral Adama said.

"Aye sir," the communications officer replied, quickly moving to begin transmitting orders throughout the fleet.

**A few hours later**

9 Assaultstars, 6 colossus heavy military transports, 4 tanker ships, 100 heavy transports, and 100 supply and heavy cargo ships of the rescue fleet arrived at Picon. The military escort fleet began jumping in formation around the evacuation ships in sequence; Warstar Argona, Battlestars Caprica, Pleiades, Poseidon, Chimera, Titan, Cerberus, Minerva, Independence, Victorious and Gunstars Albatross, Aggressive, Sol, Avarice, Hates, Edenton, Lauder, Caron, Palmer, and Arachnid.

The rescue fleet ships descended to Picon where the survivors and supplies awaited pickup. The military ships settled into formation with the other present warships collected around the twelve large defense platforms and twenty six smaller anti-raider defensive satellites.

**Galactica CIC**

"The fleet has arrived sir," the communications officer reported.

"Send a message to Admiral Thompson, 'welcome back' and 'get ready for the most intense form of combat to make up for all the battles you've missed'," Admiral Adama said grinning before continuing, "also, have the fleet begin immediate combat preparations and the transport ships have a go to commence immediate operations to collect survivors and supplies."

"Aye sir," the communications officer replied.

**Picon**

A lone raider among debris scanned the arrivals of the colonial fleet and quickly jumped out to report to the Cylon fleet.

**Cylon Fleet Preparing to attack Picon**

**Command Baseship, Control Room**

John Cavil looked at the latest report in glee. The colonial fleet had returned, and all their assets were in one location at Picon – ripe for the pickings.

"Send out orders to the fleet to begin preparations immediately. The time to attack Picon is fast approaching. Also, send out heavy raiders to gather the reserve baseships. We're going to take the maximum forces planned for to destroy this colonial fleet," John said, looking over at the other human Cylons.

"So it's finally time," a Doral number five said.

"We'll need to scramble the heavy raiders and raiders into an attack force for this operation. There are even more ships than we anticipated with the colonial fleet," a D'Anna number three said narrowing her eyes.

"Are we certain we need to complete this assault? Many Cylons will most certainly die and resurrection can't be guaranteed if the resurrection hub becomes too overloaded," a Leoben said imploringly.

"We've certainly lost many of our brothers and sisters in the colonials attacks these past weeks," Sharon Eight said somberly.

"We risk losing even more if we don't destroy their fleet here and now," Simon Four said.

"We agree, the attack must commence. God's will be done," a Six said.

"Why are we even discussing whether or not to do this? We've all agreed for the need to destroy this colonial military fleet and let the survivors return to the colonials' colony where we'll destroy them all in one fell swoop. We'll take measures to ensure maximum casualties to the colonials, and minimal on our side. Now let's get cracking," John said angrily.

"We agree," Doral Five said, which the Fours, Threes, and the others momentarily repeated. The group then began preparations for the coming battle, issuing various orders around the fleet. Heavy raiders were sent out to other Cylon fleets, gathering forces to the fleet preparing to attack Picon.


	25. 3x07 Abandoning the Colonies Pt3

**The Last Exodus: Abandoning the Colonies – Part III**

**Picon**

**Three hours after beginning of rescue mission**

**Galactica CIC**

The CIC was bustling with activity as the crew sorted through information for what was going on in the fleet and relaying orders as necessary to get the fleet ready and the rescue operation completed without a hitch.

"The rescue operation is going well sir. We just need another couple of hours and the fleet can start jumping out," Lieutenant Gaeta reported optimistically.

"Good. We must all remember to stay vigilant though, the Cylons will likely be coming any time now," Admiral Adama replied.

"Admiral, our basic counter attack plan has been relayed with the necessary ships. We're ready to coordinate as needed. Admiral Thompson and Commander Belzen also added some changes that should help maximize our combat capabilities," Starbuck said approaching from behind the Admiral, followed by Helo.

"Well done. Have the Raptors and Viper squadrons completed preparations as well?" Admiral Adama asked, smiling proudly at Starbuck.

"Yes sir. Raptors have several nukes aboard, and the squadron of vipers with experimental FTL drives is ready to go. All other fighters are prepped for their assigned missions," Starbuck replied.

"Then you should suit up and get ready to take your team out as well," Admiral Adama said.

"Aye sir," Starbuck said grinning widely, turning around to exit CIC.

Several squadrons of vipers and raptors launched and provided support to the CAP across the fleet.

Transport and cargo ships continued loading supplies and survivors. Once they were filled to capacity, the ships would jump out to where the cradle mobile docks awaited. Squadrons of vipers and raptors guarded the evac site, where they would wait until the fleet arrived – with ships planned to jump out to help guard the rescue fleet when damaged during the expected battle with the Cylons.

Suddenly baseships and raiders started jumping in at maximum engagement range from the colonial fleet and defensive platforms. Hundreds of missiles were sent flying at the colonial fleet immediately after the Cylon systems stabilized from their jump.

"Dradis contact!" Lieutenant Gaeta reported loudly, "incoming missiles across the fleet."

"All ships commence defensive firing!" Admiral Adama ordered.

The colonial fleets' point defense systems immediately opened up, unleashing a storm of flak at the incoming missiles. Several missiles impacted on ships in the colonial fleet before point defense systems could respond due to the Cylons' sudden appearance. Numerous missiles were destroyed by point defense, with a handful impacting and dealing light damage on ships across the fleet.

Raiders were quickly launched from the baseships to join others that jumped directly to Picon with the baseships. Over 10,000 raiders headed towards the colonial fleet and defense satellites.

"Vipers are to stay back for now. Let the defense stations and satellites open up on the raiders. We need to draw this fight out as long as possible," Admiral Adama ordered.

"Aye sir," the communciations officer replied, relaying the message throughout the fleet.

The colonial fleet maneuvered to get behind the defense satellites as the raiders approached. The defense satellites opened up in rapid fire, unleashing a large amount of flak fire and interceptor missiles at the oncoming raiders.

Hundreds of raiders started exploding as they raced into flak fire and missiles from the defense satellites. The remaining raiders quickly launched several of their own missiles at the defense satellites before falling back to escape the defense stations' incoming fire.

Thousands of missiles launched towards the defense satellites and the fleet behind them. The defense satellites rapidly destroyed many of the missiles, with vipers and the fleet adding defensive fire against the raiders and oncoming missiles. Many missiles impacted across the defense satellites and several missiles continued on past the satellites to impact on vipers and the colonial fleet ships, dealing light damage with each hit.

The raiders repeated the process as they maneuvered around the defense stations and continued firing missile after missile at the fleet and defense satellites. The raiders used their large numbers to overwhelm the defense satellites. Four defense satellites were destroyed from multiple missile impacts overloading their point defense systems. Three defense satellites ran out of interceptor missiles and flak ammunition, and were momentarily destroyed by oncoming raiders' cannon and missile fire. Several vipers were destroyed by the raiders. Battlestars and Gunstars took several missiles hits across their superstructures, with DC teams rapidly moving to repair the damage as fast as possible.

John Cavil smiled at the damage the raiders continued to bring to the colonial fleet even as their numbers gradually decreased.

**2 hours later**

Eleven of the twelve large defense platforms and four of the twenty six smaller anti-raider defensive satellites were all that remained of the PDSs after the raiders continued assaults. Several showed heavy damage from cannon fire and missile impacts. Several Gunstars and Battlestars had taken damage from the raiders assaults. Gunstar Albatross had been destroyed by numerous missile impacts hitting her engines and fuel lines, after previous continuous hits had damaged the armor and various defenses on the ship. Several thousand raiders had been destroyed by defensive fire and missile strikes in return from the defense platforms and the colonial fleet.

**Galactica CIC**

The ship shook as several missiles impacted across the ventral armor.

"Sir, many of the transports and cargo ships have jumped out. The remainder are filling up, and will be out of the system within the hour," Lieutenant Gaeta reported, holding on tightly to the computer consoles in front of him as the ship shook.

"Have the fleet begin combat jumps now! It's time to start attacking the Cylon baseships. Have several squads of vipers stay here to defend the defense grid and attack the raiders, while the rest jump with us and attack the raiders from there," Admiral Adama ordered.

"Aye sir!" the communications officer replied, frantically sending out orders throughout the fleet.

The colonial fleet prepared for a micro FTL jump to hop across the battlefield, past the raiders, and engage the baseships. Several squadrons of vipers boarded the Battlestars as they prepared to jump, with others remaining with the defense platforms and engaging Cylon raiders.

The raiders continued their assault on the defense grids and approaching vipers. Several groups of raiders returned to the baseships to re-arm their weapons packages as they had many times before.

The Cylon baseships were organized into groups of 4 to 5, with the human Cylons aboard leading them preparing to move in on the colonial fleet. 30 standard baseships, 3 heavy baseships, the command baseship, and 8 first war baseships made up the Cylon fleet over Picon.

Battlestars Trinity, Durga, Thanatos, Sleipnir, Glorious, and Gunstars Triton, Stargazer, and Medusa jumped in around a group of five basestars in the cylon fleet formation. Battlestars Vanguard, Rhodes, Arcadia, Pleiades, and Gunstars Avalanche, Avenger, Howler, Modesto jumped in around a group of five basestars. Battlestars Pegasus, Caprica, Poseidon, Chimera and Gunstars Aggressive, Sol, and Avarice jumped in around a group of five basestars. Battlestars Cerberus, Minerva, Titan, and Gunstars Hates, Edenton, Lauder, Caron, Palmer, and Arachnid jumped in around a group of five basestars.

Battlecruisers Proteus, Nereids, Boreas, Heavy cruisers Aether, Thalia, Phobos, Celestra, Cimtar, and Therion, light cruisers Theia, Cleo, Atropos, Hebe, Metis, and escortstars Sandstorm, Tauron, and Echelon jumped in around a group of five basestars.

50 Raptors armed with nukes jumped in around a group of five baseships.

Battlestars Nike, Galactica, Warstar Argona, and Combatcruiser Audacious jumped in around the three heavy basestars and command basestar at the heart of the Cylon fleet formation.

Battlestars Independence and Victorious were joined by several squadrons of vipers and raptors making a strafing run around a group of 4 first war Cylon baseships.

Strikestars Trophonius, Crasher, Fury, Megaera, and Orpheus jumped in around one of the first war Cylon baseships in the last group of baseships consisting of four first war basestars.

Hundreds of fresh raiders were launched from the baseships to meet oncoming vipers launching from the colonial fleet jumping in the baseships' vicinity. Several squadrons of vipers turned back towards the raiders attacking the defense satellites, effectively creating a two prong attack to go at the raiders from two directions. The vipers outnumbered the raiders in the vicinity of the baseships, with the viper forces attacking the raiders by the defense stations facing the majority of the raiders but faced 5 to 1 odds compared to over 10 to 1 odds they would've faced against the original raider force hours ago.

Dozens of Heavy raiders launched from the baseships and approached to board multiple Battlestars in the fleet; Durga, Sleipnir, Rhodes, Caprica, Poseidon, Cerberus, and Minerva. Teams of marines met oncoming dozens of centurions from multiple heavy raiders boarding the Battlestars.

Battlestars Trinity, Durga, Thanatos, Sleipnir and Glorious maneuvered to engage one base ship each out of the group of five baseships they faced. Gunstars Triton, Stargazer, and Medusa hung back behind the Battlestars to provide defensive fire support.

Battlestar Trinity closed with a baseship and unleashed a heavy KEW salvo on the baseship. The baseship took moderate damage across its superstructure, with several missile launchers also being destroyed. The baseship returned fire with dozens of anti-ship missiles along with several mixed in nukes. Trinity's point defense activated unleashing flak fire at the oncoming missiles, destroying many of the missiles and nukes. One nuke impacted across Trinity's dorsal armor, dealing massive damage to the ship's armor and causing numerous fires, decompressions, and hull breaches. Several anti-ship missiles also impacted along the flight pods, dealing minor damage and destroying four KEW cannons.

Battlestar Durga unleashed several nukes on a baseship upon jumping to the baseship's vicinity. Three nukes impacted along the baseship dealing heavy damage to the baseship, with the resulting EMP blasts shutting down several systems. The baseship was left drifting with minimal power.

Battlestar Thanatos maneuvered closer to the baseship in its path, firing its portside KEWs across at the baseship while making a high speed pass around the baseship. The baseship returned fire with its own cannons and unleashed dozens of missiles at Thanatos. Both ships received numerous hits across their armor, taking moderate damage in various sections.

Battlestar Sleipnir engaged a baseship it had jumped close to, firing her KEWs with specialized rounds on the baseship. The baseship received numerous hits as its armor began cracking apart from fragmentation shells. Several missiles were launched by the baseship from undamaged missile launchers that survived the damage debilitating the metal cover over the baseship's superstructure. Sleipnir was hit by three nukes, with one on its port flightpod, one at its topside armor, and another hitting its alligator head structure – all causing heavy damage inside the ship with numerous hull breaches and many casualties.

Battlestar Glorious engaged the nearest baseship, firing her cannons on the baseships armor. The baseship took light to moderate damage with several hull breaches from the cannon impacts. Twenty nukes were launched by the baseship at Glorious. Gunstars Triton, Stargazer, and Medusa added defensive firepower to Glorious' point defense in eliminating the nukes, though four nukes still managed to impact across Glorious' superstructure causing massive damage inside the ship.

Battlestars Vanguard, Rhodes, Arcadia, and Pleiades each engaged a baseship in the group of basestars they jumped near. They opened up on the baseships with their KEWs, scoring repeated hits across the baseships' superstructure and armor. The baseships quickly returned fire with their cannons and swarms of missile launches. Several missiles impacted along the Battlestars, scoring light to moderate damage.

Gunstars Avalanche, Avenger, Howler, and Modesto micro jumped to close range around the fifth baseship in the group. The Gunstars immediately opened up with several missiles and their KEWs targeting the baseship. The baseship took numerous hits scoring damage on various sections across its superstructure, with little return fire or oncoming missiles stopped by defensive fire for about a minute after the Gunstars jumped in. Once already taking heavy damage, the baseship began launching scores of missiles at the Gunstars in retaliation. The Gunstars avoided the mass bulk and destroyed several missiles with defensive fire, with other missiles impacting across their armor. Gunstar Howler and Modesto both had a nuke explode along their armor, receiving massive damage from the blasts and DC teams worked frantically to work on the damage while keeping the ships afloat.

Battlestars Pegasus, Caprica, Poseidon, and Chimera each maneuvered towards a baseship in the baseships' group of five from the Cylon fleet formation before them. Gunstars Aggressive, Sol, and Avarice jumped in around the remaining baseship. The Battlestars and Gunstars immediately opened fire with their KEWs on their targets, and unleashing several missile strikes as they closed with the baseships. The baseships quickly launched missiles and cannon fire at the incoming Battlestars. The fifth baseship launched several nukes at Gunstar Aggressive upon the Gunstar's arrival, with immediate impacts across the ship – few nukes were stopped as Aggressive's systems re-initialized after jumping. Gunstar Aggressive exploded as four fifty megaton nukes impacted along the ship's topside armor, detonating in one localized spot with a high powered blast blowing right through the Gunstar and quickly igniting the ship's fuel lines.

Battlestars Cerberus, Minerva, and Titan each jumped in around a baseship in the group of five baseships, with Gunstars Hates, Edenton, and Lauder jumping around the fourth baseship, and Gunstars Caron, Palmer, and Arachnid arriving to engage the fifth baseship in the Cylon fleet formation. The Battlestars and Gunstars quickly began shelling the baseships upon their arrival, and unleashing subsequent missile strikes to score further damage on areas their KEWs hit. Multiple nukes and missiles were launched by the baseships in retaliation.

Battlecruisers Proteus, Nereids, and Boreas jumped in around one of the baseships in the group of five they faced. Heavy cruisers Aether, Thalia, and Phobos jumped in around one of the portside baseships, while Heavy cruisers Celestra, Cimtar, and Therion jumped in around another nearby baseship. Light cruisers Theia, Cleo, Atropos, Hebe, and Metis jumped in around a baseship on the edge of the Cylon formation. Escortstars Sandstorm, Tauron, and Echelon jumped in around the remaining basestar.

The various cruisers and escortstars quickly fired their KEWs and missiles at the baseships upon their arrival. Several missiles and cannon hits made contact before the baseships began returning fire with their cannons and missiles.

10 Raptors armed with nukes jumped in around each of the five baseships in the group of baseships they jumped to. The raptors took a moment to reinitialize from their jump and started maneuvering evasively to dodge the baseships and launching raiders' oncoming weapons fire. 18 of the total 50 raptors were destroyed as missiles collided with them, with a raider ramming one of the raptors to destroy it. The remaining 32 raptors at their various positions quickly fired off their nuke and missile packages on the baseships, while firing rounds of flak at oncoming raiders – destroying several and pushing others out of their line of fire. Over 150 nukes and anti-ship missiles launched at the baseships, which after launching the raptors began jumping out. Several more raptors were destroyed by oncoming raiders before they could escape. Half the nukes and missiles were intercepted by defensive fire, with several raiders launching themselves directly at the missiles to contain the explosions. A dozen nukes impacted along each of the five baseships, with several nukes impacting on one area to heavily damage the baseships armor while incoming nukes impacted seconds later inside the created holes in the baseships' armor. Three of the baseships exploded as nukes detonated inside their superstructure. The remaining two baseships received heavy damage from multiple nuclear impacts across their armor, with various systems shutting down throughout the ships.

Battlestars Nike, Galactica, Warstar Argona, and Combatcruiser Audacious jumped in to engage the three heavy basestars and command basestar at the heart of the Cylon fleet formation. Combatcruiser Audacious approached the command baseship while staying alongside Warstar Argona as a shield from return weapons fire. Battlestars Nike, Galactica and Warstar Argona each maneuvered to take on one of the heavy basestars on their own. Nike and Galactica fired their laser cannons at the baseships, in conjunction with their heavy KEWs. Argona began a barrage of KEW fire from its numerous cannon emplacements at the heavy baseship it faced, while also maneuvering to provide cover for Audacious. Combatcruiser Audacious began launching swarms of missiles at the command baseship, mixing in fusion missiles burrowing into the ship before exploding while others exploded on impact over the baseships armor. The heavy baseships and command baseship had much heavier and more powerful armor than other basestars, with upgrades made over previous months to prepare for a fight such as this with combat data analyzing the colonial ships – therefore the baseships could shrug off numerous hits from the colonial fleet's missile and cannon impacts. The baseships began launching numerous missiles, nukes and cannon fire of their own.

Several squadrons of vipers and raptors made a strafing run around one of the two groups of 4 first war Cylon baseships. Several vipers met oncoming raiders with raptors launching interceptor missiles to quickly decimate the raiders launching from the baseships. The remaining vipers made a strafing run across the baseships, impacting their armor using the vipers' cannons and several missiles from the vipers impacted along the baseships – scoring minor damage that began accumulating across the baseships. Other raptors added their own cannon fire and anti-ship missiles impacting the baseships. Twelve raptors landed on three of the baseships after their weapons fire impacted across the baseships, and teams of colonial marines began boarding the baseships – aiming to take nukes deep inside the baseships. Centurions began moving to intercept the marines after their arrival.

Raiders attacking the defense platforms met vipers attacking them from both sides in combat, with multiple raiders and vipers destroyed. Several hundred raiders pushed past the vipers and began maneuvering towards the vipers and ships attacking the basestars – many of which jumped over to the fleets' positions to defend their fleet at all costs as per their programmed directive.

Battlestars Independence and Victorious began firing their KEWs and missiles at the four first war baseships once in close range following their jump, accompanied by viper squadrons making strafing runs with their cannons and missile launches scoring hits along the baseships before moving along. The vipers attacking the four baseships were redirected into dogfights with arriving raiders after scoring several damaging hits across the baseships, using their maneuverability and speed to get in quick repeated hits. The four first war baseships had taken moderate to heavy damage from accumulated weapons impacts, with three baseships being boarded by marines. The fourth un-boarded baseship jumped over to the first colonial battlegroup of Battlestars Vanguard, Rhodes, Arcadia, and Pleiades – quickly maneuvering to engage Arcadia with the other opposing standard baseship Arcadia was fighting.

Strikestars Trophonius, Fury, Crasher, Megaera, and Orpheus jumped in around one of the first war Cylon baseships in the last group of baseships consisting of four first war basestars. The strikestars quickly began launching cannon fire and a missile strike across the baseship, as they maneuvered closer to the baseship.

Six heavy raiders containing colonial marines jumped in around the remaining three first Cylon war baseships in the last group of baseships. They quickly began boarding the baseships, with marines moving to take the baseships' control room – two of which had nukes to drop on the baseships, while one group of marines was solely attacking the centurions to take over the baseship. It took several minutes before the centurions on the baseships began responding to the sudden appearance of marines aboard, with about 300 first war 005 generation centurions racing to take out the dozens of boarding marines on each of the baseships.

The first war baseship facing oncoming strikestars began taking heavy damage from continuing cannon and missile impacts across the ship. Dozens of missiles launched at the strikestars impacted along the strikestars' light armor, with half the missiles evaded or destroyed by defensive fire. Three nukes impacting along Strikestars Megaera and Trophonius led to the ships exploding. The other strikestars received moderate to heavy damage as weapons fire impacted along their weak armor. Strikestar Crasher took multiple missile impacts across its armor, with the hull and internal systems being compromised. Seeing no alternative, the ship's commander ordered Strikestar Crasher to ram head on into the heavily damage first cylon war baseship. Crasher began to light up with numerous fires raging inside and fire blazing outside the ship seen by all as more and more weapons fire hit the strikestar. Strikestar Crasher then maneuevered directly into the bottom saucer of the baseship, running along its armor until it reached the baseship's central axis. A nuke detonated within Strikestar Crasher as the ship exploded outward, and took the baseship with it as the fuel lines inside ignited until the baseship crumbled into an expanding flaming base of debris. The remaining strikestars quickly jumped out while they were still able and to avoid incoming debris.

A nuke impacted on Battlestar Trinity's starboard flight pod, destroying the topside landing bay and causing numerous hull breaches and fires in nearby sections. The rest of the ship had taken multiple cannon and missile impacts, with moderate damage showing across the ship's armor and inside the ship DC teams ran about fixing decompressions and holes in the hull and armor plating. Trinity unleashed five nukes at the heavily damaged baseship it faced, with two nukes destroyed by nearby raiders fire. The remaining three impacted along the baseships' heavily damaged armor and hull, causing secondary explosions on the inside throughout the ship until the baseship exploded. Half of one of the baseship's extending arms was launched in Trinity's direction – piercing right through the ships port flightpod and causing massive damage inside the ship.

Battlestar Durga quickly finished off the disabled baseship it faced using its KEW cannons, firing until the baseship succumbed to its heavy damage and was destroyed. Durga then moved to help Glorious which was having some trouble.

Battlestar Thanatos finished its high speed pass going around the baseship, delivering several punishing blows to the baseship with its entire portside cannons firing across at the baseship – with two of the baseships' extending arms being blown apart from the baseship. 39 anti-ship missiles impacted across Thanatos' armor from the baseship's large swarm of missiles in retaliation. Two nukes detonated just outside of Thanatos, dealing heavy kinetic damage and shutting down several of the ships systems from the resulting EMP blast wave.

Battlestar Sleipnir fired several nukes at the baseship it faced to finish it off. The baseship's armor had begun crumbling in on itself under continuous KEW and missile fire after the fragmentation shells caused layers of armor to rip apart, weakening the sections underneath until they were extremely vulnerable. Four nearby raiders managed to lock on and destroy five of the nukes aimed at the baseship, with the remaining nuke passing through to hit the baseship. The nuke impacted on the baseship's ventral armor, with the ensuing explosion reaching throughout the entire ship which had been made vulnerable with various layers of armor peeling off to expose the ships innards – leading to the baseship exploding in a massive fireball of destruction.

Gunstars Triton, Stargazer, and Medusa were joined by Battlestar Durga in defending Battlestar Glorious from the oncoming baseship. Glorious had continued to receive missile and cannon fire hits until one of the ships engines was destroyed as the ship took massive damage, with various systems losing power on the ship. Glorious continued taking hits after systems aboard shut down, leaving it partially disabled even as the Gunstars moved around the ship and shelled the baseship with defensive fire. Durga rushed forward, the ship's bow batteries targeted the baseship's central axis for a salvo fire. Major damage was inflicted on the baseship, and the baseship began turning away to show its less damaged side towards the colonial ships.

**Battlestar Vanguard C.I.C.**

The ship shook as several anti-ship missiles found their mark across the ventral armor.

"We're at an adequate distance moved away from the baseship moving on the left helm sir," Colonel Magene reported.

"Have the designated launch tubes begin firing," Commander Belzen replied, grabbing hold of the CIC plot table with both hands to hold as the ship shook from weapons impacts.

"Aye sir," the weapons control operator said as he began passing off orders on his headset.

Six nukes and thirty-eight anti-ship missiles launched from Vanguard off Vanguard's portside, masked by Vanguards quarter turn away from the baseship. The missiles cut off power after arriving at targeted locations, coming to a dead stop momentarily.

"All ahead full, past the targeted areas," Commander Belzen ordered.

"Aye sir," the helmsman replied, ramming the lever forward to push the ship forward at a distance farther from the base ship. Vanguard pitched forward and then did an about turn to show the oncoming baseship its portside.

The baseship eagerly gave chase to catch up with Vanguard, believing their missile strike to have done significant damage requiring a withdrawal.

"Baseship closing sir. Right on top of the target!" Colonel Magene reported, staring intently at dradis readouts.

"Now Colonel, and prep for a high speed pass around the baseship after detonations are confirmed!" Commander Belzen ordered loudly.

"Aye sir!" Colonel Magene replied, sending out the signal rebooting the guidance systems on the launched missiles and activating their delayed timers.

Five seconds later the six nukes and thirty-eight anti-ship missiles launched towards the nearby baseship, and detonating on the surface across the baseship. The missiles had all began moving forward at the baseship at point blank range and the Cylons had no time to respond. The darkness of space around the baseship was lit up as numerous explosions racked the baseship, with the missiles burrowing deep holes inside the ship and causing numerous fires as well as hull breaches throughout the ship. Somehow the baseship didn't outright explode from numerous nuke impacts, though heavy damage was evident across the ship.

"Portside KEW batteries are to salvo fire on the baseship as we come around in a high speed pass going past the baseship," Commander Belzen ordered.

"Aye sir," the helms and weapons operators replied, frantically working at their stations to carry out their orders.

Vanguard passed around the heavily damaged baseship still reeling from ordinance detonations across the ship, then salvo fired multiple KEW rounds at the baseship as it was passing the baseship. The baseship exploded as KEW rounds impacted inside the ship's hull, igniting the ship's tylium bunkers. Vanguard swerved past the debris of the baseship.

Incoming squadrons of raider were blasted back as Battlestar Rhodes unleashed several salvos of flak fire among the raiders, with dozens of raiders exploding. Vipers met raiders arriving from the defense stations position, starting numerous dogfights.

Rhodes continued firing on the baseship across from it, scoring more cannon hits across the ship's armor. Several missiles impacted along Rhodes' starboard launch bay, dealing heavy damage that forced the bay to be shut down. Teams of marines met boarding centurions in the port hangar deck as they exited their heavy raiders. 87 deckhands and marines were shot by the centurions as they continued moving in the Battlestar, with several centurions keeling over after taking explosive rounds to the head fired by marines behind the fast moving centurions.

Battlestar Arcadia was hit on both sides by the standard baseship and the first war baseship. Several missiles and cannon impacts along the ship compacted damage across the ship, with many fires and hull breaches breaking out in sections inside the ship. Eight KEW rounds impacted on the damaged port flight pod, ripping through armor plating and couplings holding the flight pod to the Battlestar – with all of Arcadia's damage on that area in previous fights coming to roost. Fracturing and wide cracks formed along the armor and couplings keeping the pod attached to the ship. Power lines blew causing a chain of explosions throughout the ship. The hangar pod completely tore off its fractured frame, with all those inside plummeting away from Arcadia. DC alarms wailed throughout the ship as chaos ruled while the crew fought to survive.

Battlestar Pleiades launched forward at the baseship it faced, firing her main batteries at the baseship's central axis. Several rounds impacted on the targeted area, causing heavy damage to the baseship. Several missiles impacted on Pleiades armor, which Pleiades simply shrugged off and continued its assault. Passing the baseship in its forward motion, Pleiades launched seven nukes at the baseship. Five nukes were destroyed by the ship's defensive fire and nearby raiders. One nuke detonated off course when a raider collided with the missile, with kinetic damage reaching the outside hull of the baseship. The remaining nuke passed through to collide with the baseships damaged central axis, detonating on impact and causing the baseship to explode in nuclear flame. Pleiades evaded debris and maneuvered to aid Arcadia against the two baseships attacking her.

Gunstars Howler and Modesto exploded as three more nukes impacted across the ships' hulls, with the tylium lines compromised and causing nuclear fire to rage in the ships' innards until they blew up. Gunstars Avalanche and Avenger closed with the heavily damaged baseship, targeting their KEWs on the ship's central axis. Several missiles impacted upon Avenger from the baseship, scoring moderate damage to the Gunstar's armor as the ship closed distance with the baseship. Several KEW rounds created holes in the hull and armor plating over the baseship's central axis, and secondary salvos entered inside the baseship – igniting the ship's tylium lines and destroying the ship in a large explosion.

**Battlestar Pegasus CIC**

"Steady as she goes, all ahead full. Prep FTL, and get those calculations down as precisely as possible," Commander Lee Adama ordered.

"Aye sir," the helm and FTL officers replied, busy calculating to complete their job.

Pegasus moved forward past extreme engagement range away from the baseship she faced, avoiding continued missile launches. The baseship started moving to close with and re-engage Pegasus, facing her stern as Pegasus accelerated away.

As Pegasus got further away and the baseship gave chase Commander Adama looked intently at dradis readouts. Waiting until….

"Now! Jump!" Commander Lee Adama ordered tensely.

Battlestar Pegasus vanished in an FTL jump as the baseship continued moving forward to try and catch the ship. Pegasus reappeared from its FTL jump in a bright burst of light, appearing behind the baseship. Pegasus continued in its forward motion of inertia after its jump, closing to point blank range with the baseship.

"Main batteries, fire!" Commander Lee Adama said.

Pegasus' bow KEW batteries began salvo firing on the baseship at an extreme close distance, while the ship continued moving forward at high speed - beginning to turn hard to port after two bouts of salvo fire launched. The baseship took heavy damage as multiple HE rounds found their mark along the central axis at extreme close range. Pegasus' starboard batteries then opened fire on the baseship, with more rounds compounding heavy damage to the baseship. Several rounds impacted inside the baseship, causing a significant explosion leading to a chain reaction throughout the ship until the baseship was destroyed.

Battlestar Caprica continued firing its KEWs on the baseship it faced, with her doubled armament in cannons quickly compounding damage across the baseship. The baseship had three of its extending arms blown off, and several hull breaches open along its moderately damaged armor. Caprica took a nuke to its topside armor, inflicting moderate damage inside the ship and destroying a couple weapons emplacements. Caprica closed with the baseship and opened its missile launch tubes to launch six nukes at the baseship. Four nukes were destroyed by point defense fire as they neared the baseship. The other two nukes impacted along the baseship, destroying the baseship after internal detonations raging inside coalesced into a large explosion of the whole ship.

Battlestar Poseidon reeled from two nukes impacting on the ship's starboard launch bay, causing heavy damage to the starboard flight pod. Poseidon's increased armament continued unleashing impacts along the baseship from KEW rounds and anti-ship missiles, giving the baseship moderate to heavy damage in several sections. One of the engines blew up on impact aboard the baseship.

Battlestar Chimera shrugged off several more anti-ship missile impacts along the ship's heavy armor. Chimera continued closing with the baseship, tilting on its axis to bring to bear its numerous cannons along the ship's surface. The numerous cannons began firing, quickly scoring heavy damage across the baseship.

Gunstars Sol and Avarice continued firing their heavy KEWs at the damaged sections in the baseship's armor, along several hull breaches caused by previous weapons fire. A half dozen raiders veering towards the Gunstars made suicide runs at Gunstar Avarice, with three making it through to impact across the Gunstar and cause large explosions with their weapon ordinance adding a larger bang – Gunstar Avarice succumbed to an explosion from the overwhelming damage. Four tactical nukes were launched by Gunstar Sol as the ship maneuvered past Avarice's debris and passed away from the baseship, the missiles passed through the hull breaches into the ship and detonated inside the baseship – destroying the baseship within moments as bright flashes of nuclear fire lit up the baseship.

Battlestar Cerberus took two nukes to her topisde armor, opening hull breaches and destroying several KEW emplacements. The baseship Cerberus was attacking had received three nukes once Cerberus had jumped in, dealing major damage – ripping apart two of the extending arms, starting fires, and opening hull breaches. Cerberus continued firing her KEWs on the baseship, scoring several heavy hits over areas damaged by the nuke strike.

Battlestar Minerva shrugged off return fire from the baseship she faced, taking light hits from missiles getting past her flak barrier. Minerva fired 12 nukes at the baseship, scattering to hit separated parts of the baseship for maximum damage. Raiders and the baseship's point defense quickly moved to intercept the missiles. Seven missiles were destroyed by weapons fire from the raiders and baseship. Three nukes exploded in close proximity of the baseship before just before they could be intercepted, inflicting damage to the outside armor on the baseship and shutting down several sections on the ship from the resulting EMP. The remaining two nukes impacted along the baseship's extending arms, the resulting explosion ripping off two of the baseship's extending arms as the center mass crunched downward – greatly reducing the baseship's offensive capabilities.

Battlestar Titan took advantage of her doubled offensive and defensive capabilities in added KEWs and point defense guns, as the ship maneuvered within point blank range while continuing to fire on the baseship. The baseship started taking heavy damage as the KEW rounds began piercing the ship's armor throughout the entire superstructure. Three nukes got past the flak barrier and impacted along Titan as the baseship returned fire with as many missiles as she could still put in the air. Titan's launch bay, CIC, and several ship sections took moderate damage with numerous casualties from the blast shockwaves.

Gunstars Hates, Edenton, and Lauder circled around the fourth baseship in the group, continuing to fire her KEWs and several missiles as well as tactical nukes at the baseship. Several missiles and nukes impacted along the baseship before the baseship could respond given the Gunstars close proximity. KEW cannon fire then added even more damage, impacting on several sections hit by missiles – steadily burrowing deeper into the baseship. Several missiles from the baseship impacted along the Gunstars once the Baseship could lock onto the ships.

Gunstars Caron, Palmer, and Arachnid continued firing their KEWs and nukes at the fifth baseship in their target group. The baseship rocked from heavy explosions from the nuke strike, and received heavy damage. Several missiles launched from the baseship, hoping to destroy the offending ships quickly. Gunstar Arachnid was hit by a fifty megaton nuke impacting across the ship's armor, dealing heavy damage. Looking to protect the remaining fleet and seeing imminent destruction anyway, the ship's commander set Arachnid in for a suicide run on the baseship. Several anti-ship missiles continued impacting along Arachnid as she rushed forward in a mad charge of death, before exploding in a head on collision with the baseship – taking the baseship with her as the explosion ripped through the basestar, igniting one of the tylium bunkers and leaving a pile of debris from what little remained of the two ships.

Battlecruiser Nereids exploded as seven nukes went through the ship's overloaded point defense grid, creating a large explosion encompassing the ship in fiery destruction. Heavy cruisers Aether and Celestra soon joined Nereids in destruction as multiple nukes impacted along heavily damaged sections of the ships from previous missile and cannon fire hits. Two of the five baseships the cruisers and escortstars faced were destroyed as multiple nukes impacted along their superstructure, compounding damage received from KEW hits. The remaining three baseships received moderate damage from the colonial support ships unleashing missiles and KEWs in rapid succession on them.

Light cruisers Theia and Hebe were destroyed after heavy damage accumulated and nukes obliterated the ships on impact. Light cruiser Atropos lost maneuvering control from damage across the ship as cannon fire and missiles continued impacting along the ship, and Atropos was forced to continue in its forward motion towards the baseship in what was before just an attack run. Atropos received more missiles impacts as it closed distance with the baseship, until Atropos collided head on with the baseship leading to a large explosion – destroying what remained of Atropos and heavily damaging the baseship.

Oncoming raiders launched from the baseships began firing missiles at the colonial cruisers and escortstars. The cruisers began launching flak fire at the oncoming raiders as they began surrounding the support ships, momentarily derailing the ships from firing on the basestars. Several raiders were destroyed as cannon fire collided with them. Three raiders continued on through flak fire and collided head-on with escortstar Echelon, with their onboard warheads detonating on impact – causing Echelon to be destroyed in an outward expanding array of flaming debris.

**Battlestar Galactica CIC**

The ship shook as several missiles and oncoming cannon fire collided with the massive Battlestar. A nuke heavily damaged the landing bay.

"Sir, the eight remaining large stations from Picon's defense grid have been jumped away to the fleet with the remaining ships from the rescue fleet. Squadrons of vipers left in high orbit of Picon near the defense grids position are continuing to take on the mass of raiders. Many of those raiders are now turning around and heading towards the fleet," the communications officer reported.

A nuke impacted along Galactica's topside armor, destroying several KEW emplacements, with most of the blast contained outside along Galactica's heavy armor.

"Have the Pegasi viper squadron launched to help take out the raiders immediately!" Admiral Adama ordered.

"Aye sir," the communications officer replied. Vipers in the Pegasi squadron quickly began launching and used their experimental FTL drives to jump near raiders in around the fleet.

Galactica's laser cannons and KEWs continued firing on the heavy basestar the ship faced in the Cylon formation. Several hull breaches and fires began accumulating on the baseship as the lasers began melting through the ships heavy armor, with high explosive KEW rounds cracking through several areas of armor.

Combatcruiser Audacious continued pounding the command baseship with swarms of missiles, over half of which were intercepted by point defense and raiders. The command baseship fired off several nukes and anti-ship missiles at Audacious in retaliation. The smaller cruiser used its eighty point defense pulse cannons to rapidly destroy many of the oncoming missiles and nukes, with several anti-ship missiles impacting along Warstar Argona as the ship maneuvered to help cover Audacious. A nuke exploded over Audacious' energy armor, with the energy armor dispersing the blast damage and nothing went past the heavy armor layer under the energy armor.

Warstar Argona shook as several anti-ship missiles intended for Audacious impacted across the Warstar's heavily reinforced armor. A nuke launched from the heavy basestar Argona faced impacted along Argona's dorsal armor, causing several fires in affected sections. Argona closed with the heavy basestar, leaving Audacious behind after seeing its impressive defenses working. The numerous KEWs on Argona all fired on the heavy basestar, quickly tearing through sections of the baseship's heavy armor.

Battlestar Nike continued firing her lasers on the heavy basestar she faced, melting through several layers of the heavy armor across the baseship. Several nukes impacted across Nike, doing little damage through her heavy layered armor – though multiple fires were started in affected sections with atmosphere venting. The heavy basestar began spinning on its axis, showing its undamaged heavily armored sections to the attacking Battlestar.

Teams of marines continued running through the three first war baseships, shooting at centurions coming from the front and behind the groups of marines. Several marines and centurions went down as weapons fire impacted across their bodies. A team of marines reached the center control room in two of the first war baseships, as centurions from the CIC and from hallways fired on the marines from each direction – blocking any possible exit. Seeing no chance of escape and little room for survival, team leaders on the two baseships activated the detonators on backpacks nukes with the teams of marines. One of the first war baseships was then destroyed as the nuclear explosion reverberated throughout the innards of the baseship, igniting tylium lines and culminating in a large explosion, while the other baseship received heavy damage inside but was isolated given the nukes location distant from critical systems having blown too early. The third first war baseship then jumped out, escaping oncoming debris, and trapping the team of marines aboard the baseship. The marines were initially knocked off their feet at the unexpected jump, then attacked from multiple directions as centurions continued running to fire at them. The nuclear detonator the team leader had was jammed, and apparently inoperable to use to destroy the baseship. The team of marines then started back towards their Raptors seeing no chance of using nukes on the baseship as originally planned, and the team was cutoff in their escape as more centurions appeared in the corridors. With no chance of escape, the marines continued fighting the centurions as they kept coming – with fresh centurions replacing those hit by explosive rounds to the head. Hours later, the marines would all be wiped out with heavy losses to attacking centurions. The raptors used to transport the marines also later exploded from booby traps wired on the doors as centurions attempted to board them – dealing heavy damage inside the baseship.

The heavily damaged first war baseship used its remaining maneuvering thrust and broke all normal regulations on speed to flow towards Battlestar Independence like a bullet, several thrusters exploding from the intense output maxing them out to attain as great a speed as possible. With surprise on their side, the Cylon baseship dove right into Battlestar Independence, simultaneously blowing up the ships nuclear weapons complement. With Battlestar Independence's hull and armor breached, the subsequent explosions from the impact with the baseship and nukes quickly created a chain reaction inside, and within moments Battlestar Independence followed the baseship in death as it exploded, with all hands aboard lost.

800 vipers continued fighting the 3700 raiders near where the defense grid had been, with several ferocious dogfights being engaged. The vipers had initially destroyed several hundred raiders as the viper squadrons came from behind the raider forces, launched from their Battlestars near the Cylon baseships. For every viper destroyed three raiders went down as well as the vipers continued fighting in teams of two, using their experience to weave through and destroy multiple raiders. Over 1000 raiders began jumping back towards the baseship fleets to protect them, with several hundred more joining them once the defense grid jumped out of the system. The remaining raiders continued attacking the vipers, with heavy casualties continuing to accumulate on both sides.

The Pegasi squadron of vipers with FTL drives jumped in around groups of raiders engaged with vipers, destroying several dozen in moments after their jump, as the raiders were caught unprepared by the vipers sudden appearance. The vipers with FTL drives then FTL hopped away to around another group of raiders as raiders near their first jump point had begun launching towards them, then going through empty space where the vipers had left. Several more raiders were destroyed quickly by the vipers as they continued attacking and using their FTL drives to hop around the battlefield. The remaining 357 vipers were benefiting from the Pegasi squadrons continued help in destroying more of the remaining 1200 raiders.

60 marines on the two first war baseships carried backpack nukes and moved inside the baseships, towards the center control room on each baseship. 17 marines had been shot dead by approaching centurions along the way to the ship's CIC once the teams of marines had been spotted aboard the baseships, with several minutes having gone by after the marines had already been moving deep into the ships before being noticed. Multiple centurions were shot in the head with explosive rounds as the teams continued moving forward, finally reaching the core of the baseships forty minutes later. On the portside baseship, the team of marines placed their nukes in the central control room after destroying nearby centurions inside and raced back to their Heavy raider transports. On the starboard baseship, the team of marines reached the center control and destroyed the centurions inside as more centurions approached from the outside corridors. Several marines were killed or wounded, and the team of marines quickly barricaded the doors to the control room to prepare the nukes. The marines carrying the nukes were among those shot, and after looking over their bodies to gather and place the nukes the team leader for the marines learned that the backpack nukes had all maintained damage to the point of being useless. The team leader then ordered his remaining 16 marines the harrowing task of capturing the first war baseship – requiring the marines to destroy enough of the remaining centurions to maintain control over the ships FTL drives and control center to jump out and have reinforcements arrive on the other side of the jump. The marines then removed the barricades and began attacking the centurions grouped around the hall in earnest, firing off rockets at the grouped of centurions – destroying them in mass before the marines continued advancing to fire on the rest. The portside baseship blew up in a large explosion as the nukes went off in the control room after the team of marines had escaped in the Heavy raiders.

On the center first war baseship, Athena led the team of 30 marines towards the center control room. Marines carrying RPGs let loose several rockets in the groups of oncoming 005 centurions, slaughtering dozens quickly enough; with more falling to the other marines' gun fire. The marines continued moving through the hallways to the CIC, destroying more centurions on their way – with seven marines killed by return fire. Several grenades were tossed inside the CIC after the marines threw open the doors, with the team getting back behind the outside corridor as the grenades went off –destroying several centurions at the baseship's controls. The marines then began firing on the centurions inside and quickly captured CIC. Athena went over the controls and began preparing an FTL jump – four marines stayed behind guarding the CIC while Athena worked. The rest of the team of marines fanned out and went around the baseship to destroy the remaining centurions aboard.

Modern centurions rushed through Battlestars Durga, Sleipnir, Rhodes, Caprica, Poseidon, Cerberus, and Minerva from the boarding parties exiting heavy raiders. Teams of marines overpowered the centurions aboard Durga, Sleipnir, Caprica, Poseidon, and Minerva – with dozens of marines and crewman wounded or killed before the centurions went down. Centurions continued moving and evading marines on Battlestars Rhodes and Cerberus – several centurions and marines were put down along the way as the centurions headed for Aft Damage Control, Auxiliary Fire Control, and CIC.

**Cylon Command Baseship**

The baseship shuddered as more missiles launched by Audacious exploded across the ship's heavy armor, with several missiles burrowing deep inside before exploding.

John Cavil held onto the controls table before him as impacts damaging the baseship forced the CIC crew to hold on tight. John smiled as more and more colonial ships were destroyed, grimacing when more baseships continued to be destroyed as well.

"Have the more damaged baseships jump out. Send word to the reserve fleet to begin jumping in with the heavy raiders as planned!" John ordered loudly.

An explosion near the CIC sent shrapnel throughout the room, impaling one of the sixes and injuring several other Cylons.

"I want that advanced Cruiser destroyed! Fire off as many nukes toward her as possible to get through her defense grid; detonate a 250mt nuke near her if necessary," John yelled out. The other Cylons quickly agreed and complied with his order.

The two baseships disabled and damaged by raptors jumped out of the system, with several other baseships across the fleet jumping out as well.

Twenty-five nukes launched from the damaged baseship towards Battlestar Glorious. Gunstars Triton, Stargazer, and Medusa provided defensive for in front of Glorious as her weapons systems were mostly shut down. Nearby vipers also helped defend against the oncoming missiles, with their combined efforts destroying twenty nukes. The remaining five nukes passed through and impacted across heavily damaged areas of Battlestar Glorious, their conjoined detonations creating a large fiery mushroom cloud of explosions and a blinding white light. What remained of Battlestar Glorious shocked nearby on looking colonials to their very core, seeing the burned out pieces of scrap metal, with the knowledge that all hands had been lost aboard the valiant Battlestar.

Battlestar Durga continued its approach directly at the baseship, unleashing a volley of HE KEW rounds at the baseship's already damaged central axis. The impacting rounds exploded, burrowing deep inside the central axis until continued rounds fired went straight through the baseship – out the other side of the central axis. The baseship was ripped in half, and momentarily exploded.

Battlestar Trinity managed a jump to out of the system in its heavily damaged state, with a complete system failure upon arriving near the rescue fleet.

Battlestar Thanatos was temporarily disabled as several systems were shut down across the ship from the nearby EMP blasts. The damaged baseship maneuvered closer to Thanatos and began firing her remaining cannons and working missile launchers on the momentarily powerless Thanatos. DC teams and crewmen rapidly worked to restore power to the ship, managing to restore lights ship wide and get the point defense system working to ward off the oncoming weapons fire.

Battlestars Sleipnir and Durga began moving towards the remaining damaged baseship just as four fresh modern baseships jumped in between them and the damaged baseship, two baseships facing each Battlestar. The baseships started firing their cannons and numerous missiles at the battle hardened Battlestars, scoring a few hits before return fire was launched. Gunstars Triton, Stargazer, and Medusa maneuvered between the ships, providing defensive fire and firing their KEWs at the baseships.

Centurions arrived in Battlestar Rhodes' CIC, killing several crewmen and opposing marines. Rhodes' commanding officer was shot several times in the chest along with the XO. Marines rushing inside CIC from other hallways fired on the centurions, destroying the remaining six centurions. The centurions attacking Auxiliary Fire Control were all destroyed, with several marine and crewmen losses taken beforehand. The last team of centurions approaching Aft Damage Control was ambushed by over a dozen marines from two hallways. Twelve of the sixteen centurions were destroyed, with the opposing marines all shot in the head or chest, killing or incapacitating them. The four remaining centurions quickly blasted open the door to Aft Damage Control, then began activating the inside console computers to control the ships life support systems; venting the atmosphere in several ship sections to begin suffocating the crew, and opening bulkheads and airlocks to eject crewmen in various sections into space. With the Commander and XO killed in action, as well as numerous CIC crewmen, Rhodes' crew was unprepared for Aft Damage Control beginning to vent the ship's atmosphere and eject several sections of crewmen into space. Hundreds died as they were ejected into space, while others suffocated from lack of oxygen. Other crewmen quickly put on EVA suits, giving them some breathable air for when the ship would shortly be empty of O2. Chaos ruled the ship as the remaining crew tried to regain control over the ship, many of them just fighting to survive by getting enough air or staying out of the centurions' way if they lacked ammunition/weapons.

Rhodes continued to take missile impacts from the opposing baseship, which now seized on the opportunity of the chaos aboard the ship – maneuvering closer. Battlestar Vanguard quickly maneuvered towards the baseship attacking Rhodes, firing her KEWs along the baseship. Several missiles launched from each ship at the opposing enemy capital ship. Vanguard received several impacts across her topside armor, with a nuke causing several fires and hull breaches. The baseship took more impacts across its armor, with several sections opening in hull breaches where Rhodes had already fired upon the ship.

Gunstars Avalanche and Avenger closed distance with the first war baseship attacking Battlestar Arcadia, firing their KEWs and tactical nukes at the baseship. Numerous hull breaches opened along the baseship, weapon impacts burrowing deep into the baseship.

Arcadia continued taking impacts from missiles and cannon fire as the crew moved around the ship to regain control. The Battlestar tilted downward on its axis, the loss of its portside hangar pod forcing the ship to work diligently to overcompensate in maneuvering thrusters. The standard baseship and first war baseship continued firing their missiles and cannons at Arcadia in spite of her inability to fight back. Several crewmen still at their working weapons consoles began firing their weapons back at the offending forces as best as they were able, activating a handful of point defense cannons to protect the ship and seven KEW cannons firing on the baseships in response – the tilted axis causing many fired rounds to miss.

Battlestar Pleiades continued firing her KEWs on the standard baseship attacking Arcadia, scoring several hits across the baseship's damaged armor. A nuke impacted along Pleiades' starboard flight pod, dealing heavy damage – shutting down the landing and launch bays for an extended time. Several groups of raiders swarmed Pleiades, forcing her point defense grid to widen and throw a growing amount of flak at raiders. Six raiders impacted along Pleiades, dealing damage across her armor from suicide tactics.

Three fresh first war baseships jumped in around Pleiades, immediately firing their cannons and launching missiles at the Battlestar – scoring several hits unhindered. Pleiades reeled from the attack, backing off her targeted baseship, and maneuvering farther from the three baseships; making it harder for them to combine their firepower on Pleiades.

Battlestar Chimera joined Battlestar Poseidon in attacking the damaged baseship she faced after the heavily damaged baseship Chimera had been attacking jumped out of the battlefield. The two Battlestars combined their numerous KEW fire on the damaged baseship, quickly destroying the baseship as the baseship's remaining engines exploded. A mass of fire came outward from inside the baseship as it was destroyed, pooling in a mass of debris. Several small fragments of debris hit the two Battlestars like large amounts of shrapnel dealing damage across the two ships as they avoided more debris.

As Gunstar Sol joined Battlestars Pegasus, Caprica, Poseidon, and Chimera as they met to prepare to assist other areas of the fleet, seven fresh baseships jumped in around the group. Missiles and cannon fire launched at the colonial fleet, with the first salvo scoring several hits before the battle group began returning fire.

Battlestar Cerberus quickly finished off the heavily damaged baseship she faced, firing her KEWs into the baseship until internal explosions destroyed the baseship.

Centurions kept moving throughout Cerberus, killing several marines and crewmen in their path. The teams of centurions at Aft Damage Control and attacking the CIC were all destroyed by marines. Several more crewmen and marines were shot in the fighting. The team of centurions attacking Auxiliary Fire Control managed to take out the team of marines in their way, with three centurions surviving to gain control of the controlling consoles for the gun batteries and missile launchers across the ship. Cerberus began firing her KEWs at Battlestar Minerva, scoring several hits as the Battlestar maneuvered to evade. Several pre-loaded nukes and anti-ship missiles launched from Cerberus at Gunstar Lauder, impacting along Lauder unhindered as a surprise attack. Momentarily, Lauder blew up from multiple nuclear explosions resonating inside the ship. Cerberus' crew frantically worked to regain control of the ship in CIC, with teams of marines rushing to Auxiliary Fire Control.

Battlestar Minerva took moderate damage across her superstructure as Cerberus fired on her fellow Battlestar. While evading more incoming fire, Minerva launched toward the baseship she faced, firing her KEWs at the heavily damaged enemy ship. Within a minute, the baseship exploded from weapons firing colliding with the ship's tylium bunkers.

The baseship Battlestar Titan was attacking exploded as numerous KEW rounds pierced through armor over the tylium lines, CIC, and the central axis – the damage culminating in a large explosion. Titan quickly maneuvered out of the way of oncoming debris, with some damage taken from impacting debris.

The heavily damaged baseship being attacked by Gunstars Hates and Edenton jumped out of the battlefield. Gunstars Caron and Palmer regrouped with Hates and Edenton, firing on the surrounding raiders – systematically destroying dozens in range.

Four fresh first war baseships jumped in around Battlestars Cerberus, Minerva, and Titan. Missiles and cannon fire erupted from the ships in both fleets. The crew on Cerberus regained control of the ship's weapons as marines stormed the centurions in Auxiliary Fire Control, taking several casualties in the process.

One of the baseships with heavy damage facing the colonial support ships of various cruisers and escortstars jumped out of the battlefield. Battlecruiser Boreas exploded as multiple nukes impacted across the ship. Heavy cruisers Phobos, and Therion were destroyed as their hulls were compromised with nukes reaching inside breaches other weapons fire made. Heavy cruiser Thalia jumped out of the battlefield as heavy damage compounded aboard the ship.

Cruisers Proteus, Cimtar, Metis, and Cleo continued firing on the moderately damaged baseships, steadily firing deeper into the ships. Light cruiser Cleo exploded simultaneously with one of the baseships as cannon fire reached deep inside the ships. Escortstars Sandstorm and Tauron were swarmed by raiders and exploded after several raiders rammed them. The remaining baseship salvo fired on Metis, launching several nukes towards the damaged sections on the cruiser. The combined fire from the cruisers finally destroyed the baseship, just as five nukes detonated along Metis and Proteus, with the internal explosions destroying the Cimtar jumped out towards the evacuation fleet, sustaining heavy damage and facing imminent destruction from numerous oncoming raiders. The remaining raiders in the area launched towards other groups in the colonial fleet, engaging in dogfights with defending vipers.

Onboard the boarded starboard first war baseship, the marines fought their way through the first war centurions. Six marines stayed in the CIC, maintaining control of the ship's control center and beginning preparations for a jump with the help of Athena on the other boarded baseship over communications. The remaining ten marines and their leader shot their way through centurions on the way to the engines and alternate control centers. Dozens of centurions were mowed down in a merciless slaughter by gun fire, particularly high caliber heavy machine guns, and multiple rockets. Five of the marines were killed on the way, with three others wounded until they were incapable of adequately firing their weapons – handing over their ammo to the others. Many minutes later, the marines maintained control over the FTL and main power systems and the captured baseship jumped out to where the rescue fleet assembled. More marines from the fleet's assaultstars and warships quickly made their way to the baseship to fight off the centurions still aboard the ship. Over a dozen raiders launched on the other side of the jump and were put down by nearby vipers and raptors. It took over an hour, but eventually the reinforced marine contingent overpowered the centurions and completely captured the first war baseship, with several dozen casualties along the way.

Before the marines could get complete control of the starboard first war baseship, the centurions aboard plotted a jump. Seconds later, the baseship appeared right next to Battlestar Victorious, the two ships receiving heavy damage from colliding with each other. The centurions then brutally remote detonated the ship's full complement of nukes, the ensuing explosion obliterating Victorious and the baseship – with all hands including the valiant marines lost.

**Battlestar Galactica CIC**

The ship shook as several nukes detonated outside the ship, two more impacting across the topside armor.

"Order Audacious to jump out. She won't be able to handle it if just one of those 250Mt nukes hits her head on," Admiral Adama said, noticing as Combatcruiser Audacious continued evading and using its powerful point defense against the onslaught of dozens of nukes fired from the command baseship.

Fives nukes detonated in range of Audacious, all in the 250Mt range, the massive explosions dealing kinetic and EMP damage across the ship. Several other missiles impacted along Audacious dealing damage across the ship. Audacious spooled up and jumped out after receiving the order to leave the battle, avoiding a larger batch of nukes that went through the space the cruiser had previously occupied.

The command baseship began firing its nukes at Galactica and Warstar Argona. Several missiles impacted along Galactica and Argona's heavy armor as the two ships continued attacking and defending against the two heavy basestars in addition to the command baseship now firing on them. Nike began launching nukes at the heavy baseship she faced as her laser cannons and several KEWs began to overheat from constant firing. The heavy baseship exploded as one of the nukes impacted inside the ship's heavily damaged hull where previous weapons fire had breached deep into the ship.

Not long after fresh baseships jumped into the system, hundreds of heavy raiders began jumping in around the colonial fleet ships. Vipers disengaged from raiders and fired on the heavy raiders as quickly as they could while the heavy raiders' systems re-booted after their jump and before they could launch missiles. The Gunstars and Battlestars added their defensive fire as best they could to destroy the heavy raiders. The colonials however had a mostly uncoordinated defense planned due to their distance from friendly ships in taking on the Cyon ships in fractured groups and the vipers were mostly busy fending off swarms of regular raiders, factors which the Cylons took into account and took to their full advantage. Dozens and even hundreds of the heavy raiders were rapidly destroyed by oncoming fire, even as more jumped into the system.

After reinitializing their systems, the remaining heavy raiders quickly launched their missiles at the colonial fleet. More raiders were destroyed by vipers and the warships, with several heavy raiders only firing off a missile or two before being destroyed. 732 nuclear missiles and 258 anti-ship missiles launched inbound towards the colonial ships. The colonial ships frantically fired on the oncoming missiles, rapidly destroying hundreds of missiles.

Dozens of vipers and patrolling raptors were destroyed along with raiders in the nuclear blasts. The Battlestars all took varying amounts of moderate to heavy damage as missiles impacted across their superstructure. Five nukes and several anti-ship missiles impacted along Battlestar Durga. Six nukes impacted along Battlestar Thanatos as numerous missiles bypassed the ship's partially working point defense. Four nukes impacted across Battlestar Sleipnir. Five nukes impacted on Battlestar Vanguard, and then another three nukes detonated in proximity of Vanguard as the ship moved to take hits intended for Arcadia. Eight nukes exploded across and proximity of Battlestar Rhodes as the few surviving crew had few point defense weapons firing – the extreme damage leaving the ship dead in space. Two nukes detonated across Battlestar Arcadia just as Vanguard helped to provide defensive fire where Arcadia couldn't and physically blocked several nukes. Four nukes impacted on Battlestar Pleiades. Four nukes hit Pegasus. Three nukes hit Caprica. Ten nukes altogether exploded across and in proximity of Battlestars Poseidon and Chimera as the two combined defense fire, and received much of the same damage from their proximity. Battlestars Cerberus, Minerva, and Titan each had four nukes impact across their armored superstructures. Battlestars Nike, Galactica, and Warstar Argona intensified their flak fire and fired their main cannons towards the oncoming missiles – with several nukes impacting across their heavily armored hulls. Gunstars Hates, Caron, Palmer, Edenton, Stargazer, Triton, and Medusa exploded as over a dozen nukes exploded on impact across each of the ships. Gunstars Avenger and Sol jumped out just as numerous nukes passed through their location. Gunstar Avalanche received several missile impacts across its hull before the ship jumped out, escaping more incoming missiles.

The surviving heavy raiders jumped out of the system. Raiders and vipers re-engaged in their dogfights, with a significant decrease in numbers on both sides.

The colonial fleet reeled from the damage the Cylons surprise attack had caused. The Cylon baseships took the opportunity provided while the Battlestars were regrouping after the attack and began attacking in earnest.

Battlestar Durga exploded after several more missiles and cannon fire from the two baseships compounded upon the previous damage the ship received inside and across its superstructure. A massive fireball of debris was pushed outward from the ship's remains, the two nearby baseships quickly moving to evade as best as possible.

Battlestar Sleipnir maintained heavy damage from the nuke strike and continued weapons fire from the two baseships moments later. Sleipnir began withdrawing on sublights away from the baseships, seeking aid from other remaining Battlestars. Less missiles impacted across Sleipnir as the distance increased, even as the two baseships attacking her were joined by the other two nearby baseships. The baseships would quickly overtake Sleipnir within two minutes as they increased speed.

Battlestar Thanatos fired off nine nukes at the damaged baseship assaulting her. Four missiles found their mark around the damaged central axis of the baseship, quickly burrowing deep inside the ship and detonating on the baseships nerve center. Various engines exploded at once, carrying secondary explosions throughout the ship until the baseship was engulfed in flame; a blinding flash of light were all those on the outside could see for a minute, after which the destroyed rubble of the baseship remained. Thanatos used her remaining working thrusters to go to Sleipnir's aid, coming around from behind on the four baseships and firing her KEWs at the nearest two. DC workers continued working throughout the ship to maintain the damage inflicted in various sections as fires and hull breaches hampered the ship's functionality.

Chaos reigned inside of Battlestar Rhodes as the few crewmen with EVA suits and breathable air at all made their way to the flight decks to board raptors and abandon ship. Many more crew men died in the explosions from the nukes hitting the ship, as well as the follow up assault of missiles and cannon fire from the baseship. Fires rampaged throughout the ship unchecked. Bodies of those affected by the ship's loss of air were piled up around the ship, forcing the last crewmen alive to walk over their fallen comrades. 38 crewmen in total managed to get off Rhodes on raptors, leaving behind a dead drifting hulk of a once mighty warship. Oblivious to the state of the ship or the crew inside the Battlestar, the Cylon baseship continued pouring weapons fire on Rhodes until the defenseless Battlestar exploded minutes later.

Battlestar Vanguard reeled from the damaged sustained across the ship. DC teams were overwhelmed handling damage control in various sections throughout the entire ship. Many were killed in the initial blasts, more in the ensuing fires, and even more crewmen were lost as several ship sections required venting – blasting out everyone inside to a sure death in the cold oxygen less space. In desperation, Vanguard launched six nukes at the nearby baseship finishing off Battlestar Rhodes. One of the missiles detonated deep inside the baseship through hull breaches and destroyed the baseship as flame consumed the ship's guts, aided by secondary explosions as the tylium lines were compromised.

Battlestar Arcadia shook and seemed to scream in protest and agony as heavy damage was inflicted ship wide from nuke impacts, with more missiles and cannon fire coming from the two nearby baseships and adding even more damage. Seeing the ship's vulnerability and with the FTL drives taken out, Arcadia's commander ordered the crew to abandon ship. The surviving crew quickly moved to board raptors in the starboard flightpod, with more raptors called from around the fleet to aid the crew in getting to safety. A few KEWs went on automated fire as they aimed at the first war baseship closing with Arcadia.

Battlestar Pleiades suffered moderate damage in several sections from the nuke strike, with DC teams rushing about throughout the ship to contain fires and hull breaches. Pleiades focused her KEW fire on a single first war baseship of the three coming at her. All three baseships continued firing missiles at Pleiades as they closed distance, encircling around the Battlestar.

Battlestar Pegasus received moderate damage in multiple sections across the ship, the starboard landing and launch bays were shut down for an extended period, and DC teams moved throughout the ship with marines helping them to repair various damages and put out fires. Two baseships maneuvered closer to Pegasus and fired missiles at the ship, point defense activated taking out several missiles while others impacted across the ship's armor. Pegasus' KEWs began firing on the nearest baseship, focusing on the central axis as the ship grew closer.

Battlestar Caprica took heavy damage from the nukes to her dorsal armor with fires and hull breaches reported in affected sections. Caprica maneuvered to meet one of the oncoming baseships head on, receiving several missile impacts as the baseship continued launching wave after wave of missiles.

Battlestars Poseidon and Chimera received much of the same damage from their proximity, various hull breaches and fires were reported shipwide as hull integrity partially collapsed in several sections. Several weapons emplacements exploded or were disabled. Four baseships maneuvered to encircle around the two Battlestars, launching multiple and continuous salvoes of missiles at the colonial ships. Much to the surprise of the human Cylons aboard the baseships, the two Battlestars did not divide to take two baseships each. Chimera maneuvered hard to starboard around Poseidon and the two Battlestars combined their KEW fire on the nearest baseship's central axis. Multiple high explosive KEW rounds found their mark on the same spot of armor over the central axis, causing multiple explosions reaching deep into the baseship. As the two Battlestars continued their vicious assault with continuous KEW fire on the same spot over the central axis, the baseship began to break apart – multiple KEW rounds ripping through and out the other side of the baseship's central axis. The baseship then exploded as secondary detonations ran throughout the baseship, the tylium bunkers were compromised and caused a fiery cloud to cover debris extending outward in the explosion.

Battlestars Cerberus, Minerva, and Titan reeled from moderate damage in multiple sections from the nuke strike, various fires and hull breaches forcing DC teams to work frantically across the ship, even as multiple casualties were taken from impact and secondary explosions. Two baseships maneuvered around Cerberus while the other two baseships focused on Titan and Minerva separately. Continuous salvoes of missiles and cannon fire launched from the baseships at the three Battlestars. Heavy damage compounded on Cerberus across previously damaged sections, with heavy casualties in affected areas.

**Battlestar Galactica CIC**

The ship shook as several anti-ship missiles impacted across the topside armor, destroying a KEW emplacement and causing light damage on several sections of the armor. A missile impacting near the CIC caused several members of the CIC to be thrown about the room.

"Status report!" Admiral Adama ordered loudly as he got up from the ground, clutching the plot table tightly for support, after the end of latest shockwave affecting the CIC lifted him off his feet.

Lieutenant Gaeta gathered himself together and looked at the latest reports on his station, holding his hand to staunch bleeding from his forehead.

"Several more impacts across the topside armor, compounding upon some damage received from the heavy raider nuke strike. Four more KEWs as well as other weapons emplacements have been taken offline," Lieutenant Gaeta reported.

"Admiral, we need to take out the command baseship now. We can't afford to get hit by the nukes she's putting out. Also, Battlestars Sleipnir and Thanatos are about to be in trouble given damages sustained and the four fresh baseships closing on their position," Commander Tigh said, gritting his teeth angrily at the situation.

Admiral Adama looked at the dradis console, verifying what Tigh had said. His blood went cold as he contemplated the situation, also taking note of the dire situations plaguing Arcadia, Pleiades, and Cerberus.

At that moment, Battlestar Nike fired her recharged laser cannons at the heavy baseship heavily damaged by Galactica's weapon fire. The heavy armor covering the baseship started melting on impact, the lasers burning right through the remaining layers of armor and the damaged hull. Moments later, a chain reaction of explosions ran throughout the heavy baseship until the ship collapsed under its damage – an explosion of the baseship's main body sending debris fragments outward. Several nearby vipers and raiders were consumed in the explosion, with fragments of debris hitting the nearby baseships and raining shrapnel across Galactica and Argona.

After Galactica settled down, recovering from the shrapnel raining across the armor, Admiral Adama took stock of the situation.

"Send word to Nike. They are to jump to Battlestar Sleipnir's positon to provide aid. Also, get a message to Admiral Thompson on Argona: form up on Galactica and combine our defensive screen," Admiral Adama ordered.

"Aye sir," the communcations officer replied, getting word out to the fleet.

Battlestar Nike jumped across the distance of the Cylon and colonial fleet, appearing alongside Sleipnir as she met the oncoming baseships. Warstar Argona maneuvered closer alongside Galactica, the two ships throwing up a larger combined flak barrier against oncoming missiles from the command and heavy baseships.

Battlestar Sleipnir continued taking damage as the four baseships closed distance and collectively unleashed missiles and cannon fire at the wounded Battlestar. Several systems on Sleipnir were taken offline, with fires and hull breaches causing more damage inside the ship that DC teams frantically worked on. Battlestar Nike jumped in alongside Sleipnir, receiving seven anti-ship missile impacts across the ship's armor as several more missiles meant for Sleipnir were taken out by Nike's point defense. Nike moved in front of Sleipnir as the damaged Battlestar limped on; the pristine heavily armed Battlestar maneuvered to take on all four baseships so Sleipnir could escape.

Battlestar Thanatos fired her heavy KEWs at the nearest baseship, coming up behind the four baseships attacking Nike and Sleipnir, exacting heavy damage across the baseship's extending arms. The four baseships ignored Thanatos in favor of bracketing around Nike and firing their collective ammunitions in a swarm at Nike. Nike activated her point defense, throwing up an impressive flak field that easily equaled the firepower of two Battlestars. Several missiles managed to get through the point defense, impacting across Nike's heavily armored hull – doing little more than scratching her paint job at first, even as another wave of missiles was quickly launched from the baseships. Nike returned fire with her bow laser cannons; impacting along the entire front side of the baseship which Thanatos was attacking on the opposite side – effectively inflicting heavy damage to the entire ship in a two front battle. The baseship exploded moments later as heavy KEW rounds from both Battlestars impacted inside the baseship's hull, igniting the fuel lines. Both sides of the engagement maneuvered away from oncoming debris before resetting their offensive lines.

Battlestar Vanguard finished taking on survivors from Arcadia to help in the ship's evacuation, taking on several hundred crewmen to allow the transports to retrieve survivors and go back for more quickly, the remainder aboard Arcadia continued evacuating on Raptors bound for the rescue fleet. Vanguard quickly maneuvered toward the three baseships attacking Pleiades, firing missiles and her KEWs at the nearest baseship from behind the Cylon formation. Several rounds and missiles impacted along the baseship, dealing moderate damage across the armor and destroying multiple weapon emplacements across the baseship's extending arms.

Battlestar Arcadia was quickly emptied of her crew as they evacuated, with over 700 survivors encompassing roughly half the ship's total compliment escaping on transports to Vanguard or the rescue fleet. The first war baseship continued taking KEW hits as several of Arcadia's cannons continued firing on auto mode - missing half the time given the ship's stability problems. Despite the low amount of fire hitting the baseship, a few rounds impacted inside and damaged several sensitive systems – scrambling one of the reactors aboard the baseship. An explosion imminent, the first war baseship quickly maneuvered forward to collide with Battlestar Arcadia. Unable to move out of the way, Arcadia took the collision head on. Detonations were set off inside both ships from the collision; Arcadia's own tylium lines were compromised as various fires broke out inside the ship, and the reactors aboard the baseship momentarily detonated. The two ships went up in a massive explosion, creating a huge fireball encompassing the ships. All remaining crew aboard Arcadia lost their lives in the explosion before they could evacuate. The nearby damaged standard baseship had time to jump out to avoid debris after having received warning from centurions in the first war baseship moments before their charge to collide with Arcadia.

Battlestar Pleiades took heavy damage across her armor and in several sections inside the ship as the three baseships continued firing missiles at her. Several hundred casualties were reported from weapon impacts and ensuing fires. The baseship Pleiades targeted with KEWs began to break up as HE rounds ripped through the central axis, tearing the ship in two. Pleiades then began combining fire with Vanguard on the next baseship in the Cylon line.

Battlestar Pegasus continued receiving impacts of weapons from the baseships; causing structural buckling, fires, and hull breaches across the ship. A few hundred casualties were reported across the ship as more crew continued to be lost in the battle. KEW rounds from Pegasus impacted across the baseship's central axis, forcing the basestar to pull back to escape the heavily damaging weapons fire. A minute later the baseship jumped out for self-preservation as KEW rounds continued launching in her direction. Pegasus had little to celebrate as the other fresh baseship continued pouring missile swarms at the damaged Battlestar. With a heavy heart, Commander Lee Adama ordered Pegasus to jump out as heavy damage was reported and an engine taken offline aboard Pegasus. Pegasus jumped out, missiles continuing on through the previous location, and was temporarily dead in the water as several systems shut down all at once on the other side of the jump.

Battlestar Caprica and the baseship closed distance to point blank range as they continued firing their cannons and missiles at each other. Both ships received impacts on various sections, moderate damage overall. Two of the baseship's extending arms separated from the main body of the baseship. Missiles impacted across Caprica's main hull and stern; two of the ships engines were damaged and shutdown, severely hampering the ship's weapons systems as power fluctuated throughout the ship. More and more missiles impacted on Caprica as the point defense system put out less than half its previous flak field. Several nukes impacted on Caprica, getting past the ship's weakened defenses, the blastwave shredded Battlestar Caprica and pushed chunks of flying debris outward.

Battlestar Poseidon maneuvered behind Chimera as the three remaining baseships launched swarms of missiles at the two Battlestars, forcing Chimera to take the brunt of impacting missiles with the mercury class' heavier armor more capable of taking the hits. Poseidon took several missiles as well, with damage piling up on several sections of the ship damaged by the nukes and previous combat. Casualties grew on both Battlestars, growing in excess of several hundred in addition to hundreds already lost – reaching over 1500 total lost between the two ships. Chimera and Poseidon closed with the baseship to starboard in the Cylon formation, focusing their combined KEWs and multitudes of missiles on the baseship's central axis. Missiles and rounds exploded across multiple points of the baseship, sending flames in every direction – with a focus across the ship's center along the central axis. The baseships returned fire with several nukes; most were stopped by point defense, and one nuke impacted on each Battlestar. The pressure from the blast waves bombarded the Battlestars with heat and radiation, causing significant damage inside both ships. More wounded and casualties were reported, exceeding over a hundred on both ships. A spread of missiles launched from both ships at close range towards the damaged baseship. Explosions shook the baseship violently, breaking apart huge chunks of the superstructure. Salvoes of KEW fire quickly finished off the baseship as a large amount of ordinance was thrown inside the heavily damaged hull of the baseship until flame and explosions consumed the ship from the inside out.

Cerberus continued to take missile and cannon fire impacts from the oncoming two baseships. Return fire dealt light damage across the baseships, with several of Cerberus' weapon emplacements being destroyed by weapons impacts. Eighteen nukes launched from the baseships towards Cerberus. Given her weakened point defense Ceberus couldn't adequately defend against the attack; only seven nukes were taken out by flak fire, along with another five by nearby vipers. Six nukes impacted across Cerberus, with several detonating where the heavy raider strike had already heavily damaged. Flames reached outward from the center of Cerberus, consuming and devouring the ship. Intense heat and bright light surrounded Cerberus, creating a short term effect similar to that of a miniature sun. The mighty Battlestar continued its internal explosions and disintegration, breaking apart into pieces. Several pieces of debris shot out and impacted along the two baseships – inflicting heavy damage on both as they swerved to maneuver.

Battlestars Minerva and Titan fired their KEWs at each of the two baseships facing them. A nuke strike launched at the baseships compounded heavy damage across both baseships. One baseship jumped out with severe damage. The other baseship exploded as four nukes detonated close together atop the baseship's central axis, the blast wave disintegrated much of the ship right there and internal explosions quickly took care of the rest. With a high degree of damage to themselves, Titan and Minerva jumped out to the rescue fleet before the other two baseships could approach them.

**Cylon Command Baseship**

Explosion after explosion from combined KEW and missile fire from Argona and Galactica threw the human Cylons to the floor in a screaming heap. Heavy damage quickly compounded across the baseship with little return fire anymore as the weapon emplacements lining the baseship's extending arms were consecutively destroyed.

John Cavil looked on in rage as his world came crashing down around him. He had been pleased to see several Battlestars finally destroyed even as more baseships followed them in death. Now the command baseship was set for destruction and it seemed likely the colonials would soon escape unless drastic intervention took place. John only had time to yell in fury as the command baseship exploded around him, Galactica's lasers putting the finishing blow on the Cylon command ship. Debris extended outward after a bright flash of light signaling the baseships destruction. The remaining heavy basestar, damaged as it already was, jumped out of the battlefield before it could be re-engaged.

**Galactica CIC**

Admiral Adama looked on as the command ship to the Cylon fleet was finally destroyed. Several other baseships remained, along with a large number of raiders.

"Send out the following; vipers are to begin combat landings and once able all remaining ships are to jump out," Admiral Adama ordered.

"Aye sir," the communications officer replied, quickly sending out the message to the remaining fleet over Picon.

Vipers began disengaging from raiders and began landing aboard the Battlestars. A large group of vipers would take a few minutes to reach the fleet from the former location of the defense grid, so Galactica jumped over there to allow them to land much faster. Raiders continued attacking, destroying several retreating vipers and scoring minor damage to the Battlestars.

Battlestar Sleipnir jumped out after repairing the FTL drives, escaping before more damage could be inflicted and possibly cost the ship.

Battlestar Nike received multiple missile impacts across her heavily armored hull; whittling down the strength of the armor little by little until blasts penetrated inside the ship, creating several hull breaches and fires around the ship. The remaining three baseships quickly jumped out after taking several damaging hits from Thanatos and Nike's KEWs, as well as the lasers aboard Nike. A move made for preservation of assets to prevent the baseships' destruction from following soon enough from more weapons impacts. A few minutes later, after taking on nearby vipers, Thanatos and Nike jumped out to arrive at the rescue fleet.

Battlestars Vanguard and Pleiades finished off another baseship with their combined KEWs impacting across the basestar, explosions across the central axis caused a chain reaction inside until the baseship collapsed. Vanguard and Pleiades took more damage from continued missile salvoes by the other baseship and nearby raiders; fires requiring venting also added over a hundred additional casualties. The remaining baseship jumped out as the two Battlestars maneuvered to take on the ship. Vanguard and Pleiades jumped to the rescue fleet after recovering their surviving vipers.

The remaining baseships in the Cylon fleet jumped out as Galactica and Argona maneuevered to reinforce Poseidon and Chimera. Not wanting to face their combined firepower, the human Cylons quickly agreed to escape to preserve their forces to fight another day. The remaining raiders in the system jumped out along with the baseships after receiving orders from the commanding human Cylons.

The few vipers not already landed aboard the fleet quickly made their way to the Battlestars, and momentarily the remaining colonial fleet jumped out to the location of the rescue fleet.

**A few hours later**

**Rescue Fleet jump zone, Deep inside the Acheron Asteroid Belt**

**Galactica CIC**

"Current total is over 56,000 casualties sir, with more accurate reports still coming in. Crewmen have been shuffled around on different ships throughout the fleet to maintain losses aboard the Battlestars, namely the survivors of Arcadia," Lieutenant Gaeta reported grimly.

Admiral Adama took the news with a heavy heart; thinking of the lives lost and wondered what could have been done differently to have prevented their loss.

"How many vipers and raptors did we lose?" Admiral Adama asked warily, knowing the pilots lost had been included in the total casualties.

"Approximately 75% of the vipers and 50% of the fleet's raptors. The proximity to nuclear explosions and overwhelming raider force more or less decimated our fighter force sir," Lieutenant Gaeta said solemnly.

"Where are we on getting the fleet underway?" Admiral Adama asked.

"Athena has the captured baseship ready to go and able to keep up with the fleet. Battlestar Trinity has been towed to the cradle dock, and Sleipnir was able to maneuver into another cradle dock under her own power. Several of the most heavily damaged support ships are aboard the remaining cradle dock to start their repairs, while the rest are docking aboard the Battlestars. Most of the Battlestars have maintained heavy damage, and those that need it can dock alongside other ships or have a tug carry them through the jump. The rest of the rescue fleet is ready to go. Also, the Chief said that the fleet should take a week off from jumping once we're a safe distance from the colonies, in order to make necessary repairs to complete the entire trip to Avalon safely," Lieutenant Gaeta said, looking down at reports compiled among the fleet.

"Very well. Tell the Chief we will stay in a safe position for a week or two as needed to make repairs, once we are a few jumps away from the colonies," Admiral Adama said.

"Yes sir," Lieutenant Gaeta replied, taking his reports over to the communications officer to begin transmitting information and orders throughout the fleet.

An hour later all colonial ships jumped away towards a safe system at an adequate distance from the colonies and the Cylons in order to prepare for the trip to the Terminus sector. For the last time the colonial fleet left the colonies, leaving behind whatever survivors remained hiding deep underground from the Cylons on the nuked colonies. It would be a long time before the colonies were returned to by the colonial fleet.

**Cylon Ressurection Hub**

John Cavil awoke and raised his head above the fluids in the resurrection tank his body was currently in, taking fast and short breathes as he tried to calm down from the stress of resurrecting.

"I see you've finally awoken," Jack Cavil said looking down on John, his expression unreadable.

"Fracking Adama!" John Cavil yelled, snarling in rage.

"Yes, I suppose the Admiral had a large role in screwing over the operation," Jack Cavil said stoically.

"We were not expecting so many ships to be added to the fleet. Even so, if it weren't for the advanced capabilities on their newest ships we likely would've been able to destroy their entire fleet!" John Cavil raved.

"Possibly so," Jack Cavil agreed, then grinned evilly as he continued, "unfortunately, the blame for the huge loss to the Cylon fleet and numerous lost Cylons who failed to download has been laid upon your feet."

"What?!" John Cavil asked angrily, furrowing his eyebrows in confusion.

"Yes, all the models gathered to discuss recent occurrences and the majority place the responsibility upon your shoulders for the losses suffered at Picon. Furthermore, they blame you for the colonial fleet surviving the attack at all. Your inefficient planning did not account for survivors, and the majority is ready to blame you. The time of you leading the fleet is over," Jack Cavil said, grinning wider in satisfaction at the look of shock on John's face.

"The other models will also blame you for all that has happened since we first attacked the humans," John Cavil said, narrowing his eyes in anger.

"I'm sure they will. However; I will be sympathetic to them, listen to what they have to say, and join them in blaming you. They will look past mistakes of my leadership once they consider that I was just following your orders. You will be the scapegoat to hold accountable for the colonial's victories, just as you had planned the same for me. Once the others know I gave you the ultimate punishment, they will be open to my leadership," Jack Cavil said coldly, drawing a gun and aiming it at John.

John looked on in shock, completely unprepared for this situation and unable to do anything given his body's weakness from just downloading. Jack Cavil shot John Cavil in the head. Jack then initiated the protocols in the resurrection hub's systems to destroy any trace of John, to prevent any future downloads.

"Good bye John," Jack Cavil said quietly, a look of perfect contentment on his face.

**This is a list of all the Fleet's assets after The Last Exodus from the Colonies (bold and underline means its destroyed or scrapped):**

**Military Section**

**BATTLESTARS** (37 total, 25 surviving/active)

Nike Class: Nike (2600), Galactica (2800)

Upgraded Nova class: Theseus (2150)

Mercury class: Atlantis (1700), Polaris (2100), Trinity (900), Vanguard (1800), Chimera (1800), Pegasus (2000), **Rhodes** (2200), Atlas (1450), Ithaca (1500), Pacifica (2200), Neptune (1900)

Jupiter class:** Glorious** (2200), **Arcadia** (2100), **Sciron** (2300), Thanatos (1400)

Minerva class: Minerva (2300), Pleiades (2000), Hades (2250), Calypso (1900), **Saturn** (2600)

Valkyrie class: Valkyrie (1520), Poseidon (1210), **Caprica** (1480), **Orion** (1500)

Skinfaxi class: Concordia (2200), Sleipnir (1600)

Durga class: **Durga** (2200), **Victorious** (2300)

Heracles class: Titan (1800) Columbia II subtype

Columbia II class: **Athena** (2320), **Cerberus** (2200), Rycon (2400), Phoebe (2200)

Geneva class: **Freedom** (2000), **Independence** (2000)

Atlas class: Sword (1750)

Decommissioned: Galactica

**WARSTARS** (2)

Andraste class: Argona (3600)

Daedalus class: Daedalus (3000)

Heavy Warstar Sanctuary (6000)

**COMBATCRUISER**

Audacious (1000)

**BATTLECRUISERS** (25 total, 16 surviving)

Hoplite class: Hoplite (1200), Venitrix (1200), Janus (1200), Ceres (1200), **Silvanus** (1200), **Maia** (1200), **Nereids** (1200), Endymion (1200), **Boreas** (1200), Adrastea (1200), Cassandra (1200), Dardanels (1200), **Nadia** (1200).

Indomitable class: **Greer** (800), **Hood** (800), Indomitable (800), Pluto (800), Vulcan (800), Lares (800), **Aeolus** (800), **Proteus** (800), Calliope (800), Ajax (800), Diomedes (800), Ariadne (800).

**HEAVY CRUISERS** (23 total, 12 surviving)

Cataphract class: **Cataphract** (850), Javelin (850), **Asther** (850), **Adder** (850), Bacchus (850), Diana (850), Vesta (850), **Aether** (850), Electra (800), Pandora (800), **Celestra** (850), Cimtar (600), **Chrysaor** (850), Nemesis (850), Thalia (700), Thrace (850), **Therion** (700), **Phobos** (850), Faith (850), Goliath (850).

Mars class:** Echo** (1100), **Eros** (1050), **Amor** (980)

**GUNSTARS **(90 total, 53 surviving)

Titan II class: Avalanche (920), **Stiletto** (800), **Thaddeus** (800), **Calamity** (744), **Sturgeon** (800), **Stargazer** (800), **Redeemer** (820), **Albatross** (800), Resurgence (800), Avenger (710), Aggressive (805), **Nox** (700), **Terra** (900), **Themis** (800), **Psyche** (800), Black Widow (800), Damia (800), Medea (800), Diomedes (800), Eleusis (800), Ixion (800), Cygnus (800), Onyx (800), Stormbringer (800), **Neleus** (800), Argo (800), Thera (800), **Medusa** (800), **Aegaeus** (800).

Vigilant class: Sournier (450), Hale (450), Eos (450),** Sol** (450), Asteria (450), Perses (450), Pallas (450).

Striker class: Striker (900), **Avarice** (900), Starfury (900), Adamant (890), Neptune (900), Helios (900), Gaia (900), Artemis (900), Thebes (900), Achilles (900) **Hero** (800), **Terpsichore** (850).

Cygnus class: Illiad (800), Novalis (700), Fortune (700), Styx (700), **Hates** (700), Hellion (700), Fortuna (700), Oceanus (700), Thetis (700), Ophion (700), Castor (700), Pollux (700), Tartarus (700), Lemnos (700), **Zephyrus** (700), **Polyxena** (600), **Phosphor** (650).

Miranda class: Miranda (450)

Defender class: Tigris (550), Claw (550), Storm (550), Altair (459), **Modesto** (551), **Hook** (500), Taurus (550), **Harpy** (550), Raven (520), **Tower** (450),** Brusser** (500), Fury (500), **Conflict** (500), **Peacekeeper** (500), Tiber (500), **Arachnid** (500), **Lauder** (500), **Lake** (500), **Palmer** (480), **Caron** (500), **Edenton** (400), **Howler** (440), **Brooks** (500), Romulus (500), Remus (500).

**LIGHT CRUISERS** (25 total, 19 surviving)

Byzantine class: Byzantine (500), **Persia** (500), **Agamemnon** (500), Ares (500), Argos (500), **Cleo** (500), Perses (500), Selene (500), **Theia** (500), **Atropos** (500), Themis (500), **Metis** (500), Hebe (400).

Patroclus class: Patroclus (500), Pylos (500), Dante (500), Chaos (500), Unicorn (500), Nemean (500), Laelaps (500), Boar (500), Aura (500), Eurybia (500), Lelantos (500), Charites (500).

**STEALTHSTAR** (1)

Banshee class: Banshee (800)

**STRIKESTARS **(22 total, 17 surviving)

Harrier class: Harrier (800), **Crasher** (820), **Megaera** (800), Hecate (800), Orpheus (800), Lethe (800), Mania (800), Kratos (800), Soteria (800), Lycos (800), Tethys (800)

Fury class: **Aventine** (400), **Melinoe** (400), **Trophonius** (400), Delphi (400), Europa (400), Bellona (400), Aura (400), Aeon (400), Lyssa (400), Angelos (400), Fury (400)

**ASSAULTSTARS** (9) (1 ½ Divisions of Marines)

Forseti class: Forseti (1000 + 5000), Dillinger (1000 + 5000)

Iocaste class: Iocaste (2500 + 10000)

Lancer class: Grievance (700 + 1250), Vengeance (700 + 1250), Deimos (700)

Hector class: Minotaur (2500 + 8000), Hermes (2500 + 8000), Centaurus (2500)

**DESTROYERS **(26)

Phalanx class: Phalanx (400) Gauntlet (400), Gearing (400), Anubis (400), Archer (400), Styxx (400), Griffin (400), Sphinx (400), Xanthus (400), Gigantes (400), Geryon (400).

Tiger II class: Panther (1000), Jaguar (1000), Hyena (1000), Puma (1000), Wildcat (1000), Leopard (1000), Nike (1000), Bia (1000), Zelos (1000), Spes (1000), Roma (1000), Saturn (1000), Hydra (1000), Adrastos (1000), Arion (1000).

**FIRESTARS** (28)

Hawkeye class: Hawking (700), Star Rider (700), Danton (690), Strident (690), Buzzard (690), Tavern (700), Crete (700), Cilix (700), Phoenix (700), Ulysses (700), Penelope (700), Charbydis (700), Dauntless (700), Lydia (700), Justinian (700), Lucina (700), Flora (700), Victoria (700), Veritas (700), Venti (700), Tibertus (700), Terra (700), Tempest (700), Pomona (700), Pax (600), Necessitas (700), Iris (700), Decima (700)

**ESCORTSTARS and PARTOLSTARS** (25 total, 20 surviving)

Berzerk class: **Sandstorm** (850), **Tauron** (900), **Echelon** (900), Guardian (910), **Glacier** (1000), **Tigon** (1000), Polybotes (900), Typhon (1000), Python (900), Ladon (900), Drakon (1000)

Vanguard class: Arakiel (600)

Dagger class: Dagger (350), Hunter (350), Crossbow (350), Percy (350) Gimble (350), Artemis (350),

Avenger (350), Baldr (350), Ceros (350), Talos (350), Juno (350), Vesta (350), Luna (350)

**MOBILE DOCKS AND SHIPYARDS**

Hesphaestus class: Hesphaestus (3000), Forge (3015), Starbridge (3400)

Cradle class: Cradle 1 (2500), Cradle 2 (2500), Cradle 3 (2500)

Unity class: Unity (25000), Eternity (25000)

Olympia class: Olympia (7000)

Hera class: Hera (3000)

Invictus (2500)

Libran shipyard (50000)

Aureolos station (3000)

**ELINT SHIPS** (5)

Searcher class: Everest (600), Star Chaser (600), Wisdom (700), Night Shadow (640), Vision (900)

**Civilian Section (strike through for scrapped)**

**35 Mining ships:** Calcutta (450), Tartans (500), Echo (400), Stride (400), Wind Fury ( 450), Black Elk (500), Mining Dreamer (490), Collar (400), Erbil (440), Tauron Miner 4 (500), Tauron Miner 7 (400), Carol (440), Dark Miner (440), Falk (400), Caprican Miner (540), Miner 7 (400), Miner 8 (400), Miner 15 (450), Miner 18 (400), Miner 20 (400), Howard (450), Blacken (340), Cotani (300), Sandler (350), Erin (330), Valiant (360), Miner Heaven (300), Monarch (350), Chiron (400), Scorpion Mining 478 (400), Scorpion Mining 982 (350), Tauron Mining 981 (380), Euryale (500), Gorgon (450), Scylla (400)

**15 Refinery ships:** Taren (600), Tylium Maker (509), Tylium Maker 8 (450), Batista (550), Saladin (800), Aventis (600), Fusilier (550)...

**1 Medstar**: Caduceus

**8 Medical Transports:** Miracle (980), Hiding Star (850), Wallace (900), Mercurial (850), Demonical (800), Vali (800), Rue (800), Side (800)

**5 Medical Ships:** Mercy (900), Forgiveness (890), Brightstar(990), Florencia (900), Iasion (900)

**1 Henchantories colony ship:** 60,000

**6 Colossus heavy military transport ships:** 60,000

**7 Mobile shipyards:** 60,000

**35 Cold Storage ships:** 12,000

**35 Colonial Heavies transports (Different versions)**

**260 Freighters - few remains**

**160 Luxury Liners**

**55 Standard Passenger Lines**

**56 Colonial Mover transports**

**85 Civilian transports**

**58 Cloud type luxury liners**

**10 Prison Ships:** 20,000 (3,500 prisoners)

**50 Agricultural Ships:** 100,000

**30 Research Ships:** 60,000

**10 Recycling ships: **1,000

**100 Heavy Cargo ships:** 5000

**15 Supply ships:** 30,000

**4 former training ships:** 40,000

**15 Flattops:** 30,000

**80 large civilian transports**: 400,000

**22 Tanker ships:** 7,000

In total there are over 5,000,000 survivors.

**Note: **Special thanks to Dragontaylor u/3724847/, for writing the chapters for 3x05-07. As well as for editing all previous Operation Exodus chapters, adding a lot of content to several of them. Dragon is the current editor/co-writer for all previous and future chapters of Operation Exodus, in addition to editing Battlestar Kali.


	26. 4x01 A Plan of Salvation

**Beginning of the End**

**Day 605 Since the Fall**

**Admiral's Log**

_It's been about a month since Adama's fleet returned from Picon, signaling the end of our place at the colonies, the final exodus as it were since we're not going to leave Avalon._

_Who would've thought there'd be so much trouble and work to do when I received my rank of Admiral, or better to say Fleet Admiral now? I've doubted myself many times since I was put in command by Torres and Nagala, but I've succeeded each time. Doing so not only by myself; most of the credit goes to the people that I command. Every one of my decisions was important and could cause our victory or defeat. Hm, I may not have been completely ready for all of it, but I've gotten used to it as much as I could, and things are going well, but sending young men and woman to their deaths has definitely been the hardest part of this job. _

_The mission to save all those that were trapped on Picon and the other colonies was a success; a little over two million people in two trips. On the main fleet's trip to Avalon many thousands of births were recorded, with even more ever since, especially with more expected now with the newest additions of survivors from the colonies. In total we have a little over seven million survivors here on Avalon. Many of the civilians have started their families with at least 2 to 3 children, and given all we've gone through studies have shown that many families could grow quite a bit larger, greatly increasing our population growth rate. Unfortunately many of our own fleet personnel have also been a part of the recent baby boom, so we've had little choice but to be more lax on regulations for officer fraternizations and lenient to allow time off a number of personnel have had or will have to take for maternity time. With those numbers though, we can rebuild our civilization. It may take time but we will succeed, we must. _

_But the mission to Picon was a costly victory; I would almost call it pyrrhic. We lost so many ships and personnel, more than we expected, but there was much more resistance than we expected as well. While much of the mission was originally supposed to be simple smash and grab or other guerrilla tactics to distract the Cylons until the evac fleet returned for a second load of survivors, apparently several fights became more costly than expected, particularly with a few moments of the Cylons giving Adama a few surprises like what happened to the Sciron. Admiral Adama certainly lived up to his reputation and delivered some crushing losses to the Cylons with unique tactics in some cases. From Admiral Adama's report, the Cylons counterattacked much sooner than we thought they would at Picon though. Most of the defense platforms in orbit of Picon were destroyed in the fighting, thankfully buying the time needed for evacuations to complete though the Cylons seemed to have planned for that as well. The few remaining stations from the defense grid will be reincorporated to the defenses around Avalon soon enough. _

_However, even with such high losses, the Cylons had even greater losses than we did. Much of their fleet was lost, and with the Colony destroyed they can't build new baseships without the hybrids the Colony alone had the capability to create, except for a few more baseships with remaining hybrids they might've had outside the Colony, perhaps at their shipyards, when the Colony was destroyed. We did get a report from Kathy that the Cylons could be building a new class of ship without hybrids now, though Kathy also made it clear Jack Cavil as the Cylons de facto leader has become paranoid from the defection of Cylons to our side and hid critical information, such as about the possible new type of baseship._

_I was very impressed by the performance of the Battlestars Nike and Galactica from the reports, although they were taking damage, particularly during the last battle, from their constant activity. Both ships performed excellently, though of course there is always room for upgrades and improvement. Audacious also worked well, beyond our hopes even, justifying my hunch when I ordered three additional ships to be built as fast as possible when the evacuation fleet left for Picon, and with some last minute upgrades they'll be done shortly. More ships of the class will be under construction soon as well. I will present the Quorum and the president with my five year plan for fleet rebuilding. Of course my five year plan is just a basis for what we hope to have built and depends greatly on advancements we could make over time, along with the effect the new shipyards under construction will have on producing new ships in the future. Most definitely the civilian government won't like it since heavy fleet construction mostly takes precedence over the civilians getting cities across the planet, but without the fleet we would lose everything, so they won't have much choice but to see reason and allow us to do what we have to. And with Nike and Audacious classes, classes that proved themselves well in combat, we may have what is needed to defeat the Cylons once and for all. _

_This mission left us with large gaps in our forces, so many ships lost or damaged with a lot of personnel, and it will take time to rebuild the fleet. I also blame myself, Sanctuary was close to being finished, but she was ready for combat even with some damage not yet repaired and the upgrades on her not entirely complete. If I had sent her with Adama's fleet, they would have lost much fewer ships. But I was overruled by the civilian government, and also Admirals Thorn and Sounders, believing that we should not show the Cylons all our surprises. _

_Numerous changes have been implemented to the fleet since Adama's fleet left, and even since they've returned. Upgrades and further automation to the fleet shipyards, particularly from parts Thorn recovered from the other destroyed shipyards around the colonies, combined with dismantling of other older ships and increased shipyard personnel from volunteers with experience and other previous shipyard personnel recovered from the colonies on the mission to Picon has begun speeding up construction of more new fleet units. The new ship construction plan going over five years, that I intend to show the civilian government, will truly bring our fleet to new heights and allow us to quickly rebuild the colonial fleet to its former glory._

_Battlestar Rycon is due to be retired, and dismantled with the ship and crew being used towards the latest Nike class Battlestar under construction, taking the name of her famous counterpart used in speeding up her construction. Admiral Sounders was initially against it, proud of the ship she had taken command of, but eventually she saw the benefits of having one of the most advanced ships as a fleet command unit._

_There are also designs for new Battlestar classes taking shape in construction efforts. Admiral Thorn's long term efforts in using the Pacifica and Neptune as test bed ships similar to Theseus was thankfully able to bear fruit in the form of a new class of Battlestar intended to replace the Mercury class; in the form of the Invictus class. As a side note, Admiral Jones recovered from his coma and recently joined his crew in preparations on his ship. The Mercury, Valkyrie, Columbia, and many other older classes of Battlestars will no longer be built with the advent of the Invictus class claiming the role of the main workhorse class of Battlestars in the fleet. Aptly named as the word means Unconquered/Invincible, which is a symbol our people can look to in light of the second Cylon war and the actions the Cylons have taken. The Invictus class is slightly over a third longer than the Mercury class and comparable to the Nike class in many ways, though the Nikes will still mainly fulfill fleet command ship roles or act independently as the class was intended. The remaining Mercury class Battlestars are planned to be upgraded to the level of Atlantis over time, though new ship construction is intended to mostly take precedence and with our facilities as is only one or two will be upgraded at a time. Another class of Battlestar is also taking shape; intended as Stealth Battlestars with heavy weaponry, aptly named given stories surrounding Hades, and is using the reconstruction of the Minerva class Hades to serve as the testbed and namesake for the new class. A layer of carbon composite will cover her armor and among other tech allow her to truly act as a heavily armed stealth ship. The new Skinfaxi class is receiving more additions to the fleet, with stealth components added, and is intended to serve as a companion of sorts to the Hades class with her AWACS capabilities for her sensors and detection systems providing information necessary for the Hades class to complete missions._

_Perhaps one of the most noteworthy changes over the past few months includes Admiral Thorn and I deciding on recreating the Firestars, based on action reports from Adama showing how effective Battle cruisers, Heavy cruisers and Gunstars were in engaging baseships on their own. Since we still need our Gunstars to mostly offer gunnery support and defensive fire against Cylon missiles and raiders en masse as protection for the fleet, the idea of changing the Firestars to provide heavier gunnery support, and take the load off Gunstars so they won't be used against baseships like Adama was forced to do in the colonies, made a lot of sense. Ironically the original Firestars were meant to be much more than they have been, as the Admiralty wanted them over Gunstars and the other cruisers, but costs and politics got in the way and they were dumbed down to the role of mere frigates with the other ships being made smaller than Firestars were meant to be and mass produced more easily. Now however, using some original ideas for the Firestars and work from R&D, we've come up with a new far more powerful type of Firestar; more like a Heavy Battle cruiser as it were from its functions. Given the increase in their firepower and the great demands on resources they could cost if we wanted to get them out of construction and active in the fleet as soon as possible, we began dismantling all other Battle cruisers, Heavy and light cruisers, and the smaller/older Firestars. This allowed us to take advantage of the materials from the ships to speed up production, so 40 Firestars of the new configuration can be ready within the next few months as the final production measures and tests by the crew nail down bugs among the ships to get them up to snuff. We also took advantage of the extra crew members that wouldn't be going to the new ships, coming from the scrapped ships, to spread among the fleet; since being more automated, they require fewer crew complements. It's a relatively good cut to our support fleet units for now with only about half the number of ships dismantled replaced, but the vast increase in firepower should justify and make up for the loss, and starting production on more in the future should quickly make up for the shortfall gap in our forces. Unfortunately it would've taken too long on construction to begin installing the energy dispersive armor, lasers, pulse cannons, and other advancements R&D's come up with, not to mention stretching our resources for constructing and upgrading other ships, but the huge increase of firepower to the ships should be adequate for the moment and steps have been taken to allow R&D's advances weapons installment in the future. Logically, it's far more important to get the ships out right now. The new Firstars are at a Length of 1,150 meters, a Width of 325 meters, a Height of 250 meters, have a crew complement of 1,100 with a Marine defense force of about 250. There's also 240 Rapid firing twin defensive turrets for her flak guns, 4 Heavy bow KEW batteries with 40 Medium to Heavy KEW batteries everywhere else, as well as 16 missile launch tubes across the ship. She carries a single squadron of fighters, with 40 Mark VIII vipers from the heavily armored single flight pod attached to the ship's lower hull, and ten raptors for SAR or with weapons packages._

_There's also the new creation of the Oceanus class Super Carriers. In the original Cylon war, colonial forces had placed importance on vipers from Battlestars as carriers, using fighters to keep off mass enemy fighters the Cylons used and the many missiles they focused on firing in lieu of use of cannons as much as colonials used. The second Cylon war has made it clear that if anything's changed it's the massive increase of missile and nukes the Cylons use in battle, as well as greatly increased numbers of raiders – even just on a single basestar with upwards of 300 raiders normally carried. The Super Carrier is the colonial fleet's new way to combat the threat we face, particularly with the knowledge of the Harvesters use of swarm tactics like the Cylons. Each Super Carrier has 4 dual flightpods with a total of 8 landing bays; essentially two mercury class dual flightpods, with an inverted flightpod on the bottom, stacked right on top of each other on both the starboard and portside of the ship. The new design is similar to a Battlestar in all but name, however the massive flightpods and the focus on sending out mass units of fighters into combat make it so she is not a dual battleship/carrier like a Battlestar. Super Carriers will have a great deal of point defense covering the ship to allow the ship to maneuver throughout the fight without fear of missiles or fighter craft, and has a handful of Heavy KEWs intended only to discourage a capital class ship from attacking the carrier. Each Super Carrier is intended to have 1200 fighters aboard with the increased flight bay capacity allowing the massive amount of fighters to operate sufficiently with resupply and maintenance as necessary. After much debate among the Admiralty, we've also begun implementing the use of drone fighters after careful study of Harvesters made doing so possible, with all necessary safety precautions involved to prevent hacking the unmanned fighters. Half the Super Carriers fighter complement will be drone fighters, and the use of such fighters allows us the opportunity to allow more pilots into the fight even if they're much younger than the norm since unmanned fighters has little risk to the controller that would be onboard the Super carrier piloting the drone fighters. Despite our phobias of using such technology given the war with the Cylons, necessity and practicality take precedence in order to ensure our continued survival – no matter how much many of us may grumble about the issue. Other support craft like Raptors will also be in use on the new carriers._

_On a related note, R&D has come to a decision on the new heavy fighters and the intended equivalent of heavy raiders which simply outclass our raptors. The new heavy fighters have been dubbed the Peregrine Falcon, usually shortened to simply a Peregrine. Heavy raiders and raptors were built intended to be dual dropship/gunship, the Peregrine however will not have room onboard as a dropship, with the use of marine dropships set to increase in leui of the intended replacement to raptors, and the extra space will instead be focused on allowing the fighter to have heavier weaponry and large stores of munitions aboard. Peregrines will have long range FTLs aboard, dozens of missiles with different offensive/defensive designs available aboard, two six-barreled 30mm forward cannons, and a chaingun capable of turning to cover a firing range nearly 180 degrees. Peregrines will also have heavier armor aboard, intended to be able to withstand several hits from weapons fire and make up for her loss in speed given her size, though her thrusters aboard are simulated to be able to take her to great speeds and has the capability to outrun enemy fighters. Another note on fighters is the completion of the mark VIII vipers with FTL capability and intended to be mass produced to replace other versions of vipers throughout the fleet; ironically taking advantage of the number of lost vipers in recent combat to resupply the fleet with better fighters rather than with more mark VII's._

_Other changes include the dismantling of older Gunstar classes like the Defenders and even the Striker class, and reformulating them into the new Aegis class design. Intended to shore up the strength of our gunnery support units, each newly designed Gunstar would have heavier firepower akin to the Titan and Cygnus class, though more closely aligned with the Titans since they have fighters aboard - unlike the Cygnus which was primarily a heavy Gunstar lacking fighter squadrons aboard. The new Titan III class is planned for in the future as well, intended as a more heavily armed replacement to current Gunstar standards. The Destroyers have likewise had dismantling of older models from the Tiger II and Phalanx classes, to create the new Aesir class at a larger mass and with heavier firepower more akin to as close to a Mercury block I class as possible – a big step up from the equivalency of the Columbia II class the older Destroyers had. There will be fewer ships once their reconstruction is complete, but the heavier firepower with standard weaponry, for now, is intended to make up for the loss in numbers. The new Tiger III class is similar to the Aesir class in many ways, and is planned to be built to replace the older units as well, with newer weapons advancements added in the future. Unfortunately other ships like the escortstars, patrolstars, and strikestars couldn't be focused on at the moment given everything going on, though we hope to help advance them in the future. A single new Stealthstar like the Banshee is planned at the moment, though more can hopefully be added later._

_Apparently Adama brought back a captured first war baseship from the Picon mission, which has been added among the fleet as an asset to be used. It was truly a surprise to behold when we first saw the ship arrive. Adama had one of his officers, Helo Agathon, take command of the baseship and promoted to the rank of Commander. He also had our most trusted Cylon ally, and a member of the colonial fleet from one of his previous decisions, Athena Agathon promoted to serve as Helo's XO aboard the baseship. After careful thought, I approved of Adama's decisions and made the promotions permanent. All other Cylons that have been working on our side were moved over to the baseship, with several deciding to enlist in the colonial fleet following Athena's example, which I approved in the spirit of cooperation and continuation of our alliance. The recently revealed final five were given clemency given what they told us and what we've already pieced together regarding their pasts; uncomfortable with reactions from the fleet on rumors of their identities most decided to move to the baseship to escape prejudice, all except for Saul Tigh and his wife remaining on Galactica. The captured squadron of raiders and most other Cylon technology not being studied by R&D were moved to the baseship to shore up their defenses in addition to vipers being placed aboard; the Admiralty agreed that besides studying the technology we had no further use for the fighter craft being elsewhere in the fleet and could stand to take advantage of the familiar technology being used by the Cylons on our side. Helo also began recruiting crew members to get the baseship up to combat readiness with a skeleton crew and took in as many able bodied willing personnel as possible, with the use of several who were less than happy about it – though inevitably with long term use of the baseship they'll have to take in crew members that despise the Cylons with extreme prejudice. I agreed with Helo's idea in slowly acclimating crew members aboard with a small group of prejudiced personnel to get them used to it over time and hopefully allow other personnel to come aboard in the future with those already aboard helping them acclimate. The baseship, named the Pallas of Athena in honor of the number Eight who first joined the colonial fleet and was the major source of resistance among the Cylons, has been placed in a shipyard and is intended to be heavily upgraded with point defense and KEW cannons covering her massive frame. Something the Cylons should have done themselves; their mistake will be our gain. Once complete, her heavy weaponry should bring up her equivalent firepower near the level of a block 1 Mercury class Battlestar._

_Other personnel changes have become necessary throughout the fleet. Commander Belzen was promoted to the rank of Rear Admiral, having proved himself time and again with the important missions that he's been handed and going above and beyond the call of duty. Commander Jacob was also promoted to Rear Admiral, having served as second in command of BSG 36 for a few years and proven his worth in battles since the beginning of the Cylon attack. Commander Marshall was promoted to Rear Admiral following his long break in seeing combat since his actions in helping complete objectives Admiral Thorn set following the Cylon attack, and having led BSG 64 quite well following the Cylon attack; lacking a ship, he is intended to take command of one the new fleet units coming online soon enough. Major Kathy Morales, the fleet CAG, has proved herself ready to move forward and was promoted to the rank of Commander, intended to take command of one of the new fleet units coming online. At Adama's suggestion, Starbuck was promoted to Major and took Kathy Morales' position as fleet CAG over all pilots in the colonial fleet. Despite her initial groaning at the new responsibility she took to the position with zeal and began coordinating all pilots on several unique formations she came up with, in addition to taking great pleasure in getting the new additions of viper nuggets up to snuff to work with the other veteran pilots. Admiral Adama has also made it clear that he will have to retire within a few years since his health condition from his age is eventually going to catch up with him, and he nominated his son Lee Adama to replace him in the future. Many in the Admiralty, myself included, agree with his choice since Commander Apollo has a great track record as a leader and a suitable replacement to the legacy Admiral Adama will have left behind, though it will be sometime before Lee is ready to fully take on that mantle. In the meantime Commander Lee Adama was promoted to the rank of Commodore, and with knowledge of his father's wishes is preparing for his future role as a leader; unexpectedly he and Admiral Adama appear to have become closer than ever in recent days with the two discussing all sorts of tactics and strategies. It hasn't been hard to see in recent dealings with Admiral Adama that he couldn't be happier about his renewed relationship with his son._

_While Adama lead rescue operations, and striking back against the Cylons, we've been busy too. A small exploration team departed on Gunstar Claw. Their target was a planet a few jumps away in a relatively small system. Our probes found several larger settlements on the planet, but all abandoned. What we didn't know at that moment is that all people that lived there were killed by some kind of plague. Obviously, since many of the remains the search team found didn't show any kind of trauma, at least not by bullets, but there was a lot of bite markings and other similar wounds. Nor was there any structural damage from bombardment or battles. Somehow our team on the ground got in contact with this virus, whatever that was, and some got infected. The most disturbing report was that people that were infected became extremely violent after a few hours, one survivor was brought on board the Claw, and the crew was unaware of a threat. In less than two days more than half of the Gunstar's crew was infected. Their commanding officer sent a distress signal and I dispatched Atlantis itself and Battlestar Sword. By the time we received the covert signal, which was very faint due to measures to hide from detection by the Harvesters, and sent ships to help: only a few dozen survived to escape from the Gunstar. When our ships arrived we had a new surprise. _

_Atlantis and Sword jumped near the Claw's position and started approaching the now abandoned Gunstar. Survivors had already jumped away in Raptors. Of course they were stopped on the edge of Avalon system by patrols and all were placed in quarantine, so far nobody was infected; they had been lucky in getting past their fellow infected crew members. _

_But as soon as reinforcement ships started to approach, a ship appeared from nowhere and fired on the Gunstar, destroying it in one shot. The ship was obviously advanced since it had energy based weapons. Our ships immediately targeted the new ship and prepared to fire on it when the alien ship contacted us. Commander Haller was a smart man and too experienced to fire before having all facts, so he kept our ships from firing and waited to get answers from the alien captain. It turned out that the alien ship was made by humans and held humans aboard as unbelievable as it was; they're from a world called Arcadia. They explained that they were the 14__th__ tribe of Kobol, a fact that I and my officers have known about for some time, but we believed that they were extinct and destroyed by the Harvesters. _

_The Captain of the ship "Terraxion" Joul Hadoras, explained that the virus we found on the dead world was created by the Harvesters, at least that is what they've always believed. It makes an infected person mad, so mad that they immediately attack anyone close to them; they become a mindless monster. _

_Terraxion returned with Atlantis and Sword to Avalon. It was clear that the Arcadians were more advanced than we are. Their ship was elegant, not crude like ours. Their ship even had windows. Windows were present on many civilian ships in the Colonial fleet, both military and civilian trade fleets, pleasure ships… But never military combat ships. None of our Destroyers, Gunstars, Battlestars or any other type have windows; it's always been known to be a structural weakness, and a weakness we could not afford to be exploited. _

_While the public still do not know about the Arcadians, we had a meeting with their delegation on board the Invictus. The Arcadians proposed visits twice per month, in order to simply not attract Harvesters that may be in the area. Madam President was eager to learn more about them, but so far what we've learned was that they left Kobol two thousand years prior to the 13__th__ tribe's exodus, with guidance of some of the gods - probably Athena's people. In two thousand years they colonized several planets and at their peak they had over one billion people. But some five hundred years ago they encountered the Harvesters and all hell broke loose. They lost ground until only their new home system remained untouched. Arcadia prime now holds four hundred million people, with fifteen million others living on colonies around the system. The only reason why it was not found by Harvesters was because of an array of satellites (that they believe were built by the gods) that kept them hidden. The reason for those satellites was also the fact that they are in the middle of Harvester territory._

_I also plan to present my plan for rebuilding the fleet to the Quorum and President today, and have a meeting with the Arcadian ambassador_.

Stryker rubbed the temple of his head with the tips of his fingers and then sipped some Ambrosia from his nearby cup on the table. He just wanted to continue the log when someone knocked on the door. He was already not in a good mood, but he just said "yes."

A lieutenant entered the door and apologized, "Sorry sir for the interruption, the President is here to see you."

"Wonderful," Stryker muttered to himself, "Let the President in."

President Roslin entered inside and the lieutenant closed the door behind her.

Admiral Stryker gestured for President Roslin to sit in the chair in front of his desk. She remained standing and holding onto a stack of papers.

"What is the meaning of this?" President Laura Roslin asked, narrowing her eyes at Admiral Stryker.

"Meaning of what?" Admiral Stryker asked innocently.

"Your rebuild plan, it was not even approved by the Government yet and you already started implementing it," President Roslin said, and before Stryker could say anything Roslin continued, "Five million people, your mission saved five million people, now we have a total of a little over seven million. We don't have basic things for more than half of that number, taking that the last group and all surviving warships are just recently back and you are already spending resources on the buildup of a new fleet?"

"Madam President, my five year plan was created to bolster the strength of our fleet and replace ships we lost during the last mission. As you are aware, military personnel have helped with construction of new residential buildings so that everyone can have a home since the very first settlement on Avalon. When the main fleet arrived at Avalon over a million civilians helped with the construction of tent housing units, along with military workers as well, and later they worked on the beginning of more modern cities for basic housing and a return of several tenants of colonial society. The influx of survivors from the colonies by the Picon mission and recent births has certainly affected things since more growth in constructing houses has been necessary, but with a large number of volunteers hard at work and the use of automated equipment we were originally equipped with for the mission to Avalon, we've completed wonders in a short amount of time. More will come until we get everything we need, and don't forget the influx of supplies from the colonies gives us an incredible start on rebuilding colonial society for our new population. I told you before that I am doing everything for civilians, they are always first, but the military must have an untouched flow of resources too. Invictus is the only production facility right now that builds basic stuff needed for life, and given her production facilities that's more than enough as is. And 80% of that is going to civilian population, the rest we use for the military. Invictus is also starting to create production facilities on Avalon which will supplement the supplies retrieved from the colonies and give the beginning of a return of much of modern colonial society. But we need to have a strong fleet capable of dealing with any situation. We are at war madam president with two different species. With the Cylons we are in active engagements, and these won't stop until one of us falls to other, and yet we have another enemy lurking in the shadows of this region. Although we are not in direct war with the Harvesters, I would say we are in a passive war with them, after those few engagements we had in the past and the clear fact that once they know about us they'll come in force until they destroy everything here," Admiral Stryker said.

"Then why did you choose this planet, this system?" President Roslin asked.

"It wasn't my choice madam president. It was by the order and decision from fleet Admiral Torres and Admiral Nagala to come create a colony here. I was only ordered to bring the fleet here and make an outpost and basic colony till reinforcements or shall I say a second group arrived. We weren't aware of Harvesters at that time and it would probably be different if those bloody Cylons didn't attack us when they did. However, given the Cylon attack Avalon has literally been a godsend to restarting the shattered remains of our society and culture. We cannot leave this planet because there is nowhere to go, and so we must focus on defending ourselves here at all costs and not preparing possible evacuation that would leave any 'survivors' with only death no matter which direction they go. Now I told you the military will not interfere with civilian rules and regulations and the civilian government, in this case you and the Quorum will not interfere with our decisions. I will not allow the military to be dictated by the whims of politicians that could once again lead to the destruction of the remains of the colonials here; unless you've forgotten the part Adar and much of the civilian government from the colonies played in the success of the Cylon attack with demilitarization and the spreading of the idea that the Cylons wouldn't return. The military will remain under the control of the government to an extent as was always intended and how it should be, but never again will politicians dictate defensive measures that would lead to our destruction, the least of which right now would be stopping fleet construction to simply make life easier on the colonists on Avalon by building mass cities for them. I've read the reports Adama made of your leadership while Galactica fled the Cylons, so don't try and tell me you don't understand or even not agree with what I'm saying here. We've spread resources so that both sides have enough, without damaging the other side, and this will give everyone on Avalon what they need in the long run," Admiral Stryker said.

President Roslin says nothing; she finally sits in the offered chair in front of Admiral Stryker.

"I am sorry admiral, it was the Quorum who panicked and believed you're doing the wrong thing, and they wanted me to interfere with this. And I know what you are doing and why," President Roslin said.

"The Quorum like its predecessors are a bunch of baboons, nothing else madam president. The thing is, we beat the Cylons hard, but we lost lots of our own ships, and we humiliated them again; they will return soon enough. There's a good chance that Cylons had a ship follow us back, although we didn't find any, especially not after we destroyed that patrol star that was behind our fleet. Adama also reported the movement of the Cylon fleet, which appears that they've already moved much of their fleet to head to Avalon and quite possibly have since left the colonies and started moving everything closer and closer to us here. We can expect an attack on Avalon soon and I planned much of our ship construction around that fact which I see as inevitable. I do not want to go to the public with this information; it would only cause chaos down on the planet. We will defend Avalon and beat back the Cylons, this I promise you, but again we need the fleet to have the resources it needs to do what is required.

I will explain everything to you and the Quorum on the next session that is planned for tomorrow. My entire plan which includes both civilians and military will be presented and I will explain everything in detail. There is no reason to worry madam president; I didn't save the civilians so that I could make myself a dictator as some members of the Quorum think," Admiral Stryker said.

Of course Roslin knows that, Stryker is not a dictator, he was a natural born leader, maybe even better leader than she was and the best that they could've hoped for in the chaos of the Cylon attacks. He always put others in front of him, and has been doing everything he could to protect others. The military is essential for their survival on Avalon, without it they would lose everything.

"I apologize madam president, but I have a scheduled meeting with the Arcadian ambassador Tarak Zorr," Admiral Stryker said.

"Of course," Madam President said, and rose from her chair to leave the room. Although she was not always on good terms with Stryker, she believed he was the best military officer they had now, though she'd never admit it to his face.

**2 hours later – Invictus observation deck **

"Ambassador Zorr, my name is Admiral Stryker," Admiral Stryker said.

"Ah yes admiral, the captain that made official contact with you spoke well of you, but I apologize if I must skip the pleasantries and go strictly to business," Ambassador Tarak Zorr said.

"Of course," Admiral Stryker said, happy to cut past unimportant details and get down to the important details - particularly so he could get back to important work for the fleet.

"As you know, we are willing to share some of our technology with your people; after all you are from the twelve colonies of Kobol which makes you our brothers and sisters. Technology which we believe will help in production and assembly, making more than enough food, and other basic needs for new arrivals. As discussed before, we'll help set up your newest heavy shipyard and greatly cut down the time it takes for you to construct it, though of course without giving our own technology in the process but simply decreasing the construction time so you can better defend yourselves. We will provide you even with some defensive technologies, but for now no weapons; though from what's been seen from the weapons on board your ships they are quite adequate to fight the Harvesters if needed," Ambassador Tarak said.

"But by your tone you don't approve of something?" Admiral Stryker asked.

"Don't get me wrong admiral, Arcadian high command is pleased to see the other tribes of our home world of Kobol, especially to see more human survivors after all we've gone through, but when our people departed Kobol - yours were already in numerous skirmishes. Also you are to blame yourself for your downfall. The Cylons were your creation after all, aren't they? And they turned on you. Now all that remains from twelve colonies and other territories, home to over twenty-two billion people, is this planet and a total of seven million survivors. And on top of that you settled this colony in a very dangerous region, infested with Harvesters. While this system is untouched by them, and most surrounding systems were untouched too, you are in close proximity to them. There's at least one dormant Harvester hub four jumps away from this location," Ambassador Tarak said.

"I'm afraid we don't have anywhere to go ambassador, whatever happens, happens here. We won't leave this place no matter what, we simply can't," Admiral Stryker said.

"I understand that, and I welcome you to stay of course, we will give you all our defensive technology so that you can integrate them into your defenses and ships and have better chances in case of a Harvester invasion. But for offensive technology we need to trust you more. Also the Cylon problem is yours Admiral, and you must deal with them, we will not help you with it," Ambassador Tarak said.

Admiral Stryker wasn't really pleased but he knew he needed to accept all the help the Arcadians offered.

**Invictus – Quorum Session room **

The twelve delegates of the Quorom and the President sat before Admiral Stryker as he revealed his plan in full to the civilian government and started to answer all questions made by the Quorum. The members of the civilian government sat in silence following hearing all of Admiral Stryker's plan. The Picon representative was the first one to ask a question.

"You mentioned an increased buildup of new ships admiral, from what we see on your rebuild plan; there were two additional Nike class Battlestars already under construction on Eternity, long before you revealed this plan to the government. Are we not important enough to be told of developments as they come? Also, why are we building ships so expensive? The civilians are still not adequately provisioned, particularly with the influx of over two million more people and the baby boom with so many more births. You even added this insane idea of replacing the cruisers currently in service that have proven their worth in battle with Cylons to make an improved frigate. Then there's the Oceanus class Super Carriers, what purpose would those new ships would have?" Joseph Courbet asked haughtily.

"With respect, the Civilian Government was just barely being reformed when these decisions about fleet construction were made; laying it all out on the table wasn't necessary or prudent at that time given the many concerns you've all had in starting up the government and working on rebuilding our society. I would remind the representative that there is no cost to fleet construction because there isn't more than a basic economy in place at the moment; just one of those things the civilian government was busy with while construction plans needed to get started, and as there's no price in building ships in space as of yet it's inaccurate to say making any ship is "so expensive". The Nike class showed their great potential and power during the mission in Cyrannus system, both the Nike and Galactica perform well, better than any other ship in our fleet with exception of Warstar Argona.

The Nike class is even stronger than a Nova class command Battlestar, especially with new advanced energy weapons we installed on them and her slightly larger size. The Rycon and Deucalion are currently under construction and they will be finished in five to six months. The Firestars are not frigates any more and more akin to Battlecruisers; you would do well to research on a topic before arguing your case representative, since it's the fault of the civilian government of the past that firestars were relegated to frigates and cruisers were mass produced instead despite being inferior to the original design of Firestars. The Oceanus class Super carriers are a measure to counter the number of Cylon missiles/nukes and raiders they use in mass against our fleets at every occasion; they will have 1200 fighters and other support craft aboard to launch into the fight and provide support in maintaining our fighter forces. Half the fighters aboard will be drone fighters as well, an improvement that should lessen the loss of life among our fighter forces. In the future, it would be logical to have destroyers and the Super Carriers paired up to creating an efficient fighting force, since destroyers lack fighters but have great offensive strengths akin to Battlestars. These new ships will have a large amount of Raptors on board and up to one hundred and twenty or even two hundred plus, depending on need, of new type of heavy fighter – the Peregrine. Also, the current Battlestar Titan will be retired from the regular fleet and transferred to newly established SRTG – Special response task force," Admiral Stryker said.

"What is the purpose of SRTG?" the Scorpia representative, Eladio Puasha asked.

"SRTG main tasks, are scouting, espionage, stealth, first strikes against possible targets, we could say they are our eyes and ears, and our first line of defense. Outside of normal fleet deployments and a more specialized Battle Group intended to give a fast response when necessary. Also, an additional class the Invictus class Battlestar is to be introduced; this class is going to replace Mercury, Valkyrie and Columbia II classes as the main class of Battlestars like the workhorse of the fleet. These new ships will start off with the first twelve named after the twelve tribes in honor of the legacy we will have to renew on Avalon. While current ships of the Mercury and Valkyrie class will remain in service, they are still a great asset of the fleet, none of those classes will be built anymore," Admiral Stryker said.

"Aren't all these ships intended to expand the fleet a little much? I can't see how production can truly meet this kind of demand," the representative from Tauron, Iris Dahlia said worriedly.

"Not at all, all ships and all parts of my plan will be invested by military resources, none of the civilian resources will be used in this. As you are aware, the Libran shipyard was recovered prior to our main fleet's trip to Avalon and has a lot of capabilities for construction as per the major shipyard stations several colonies had prior to the Cylon attack. There's also Unity and Eternity with their massive production facilities that were intended to service a massive fleet. All our other shipyards simply add to those three main shipyards in construction docks available to begin producing a large number of ships. Also, the civilian shipyards are focusing on building mining and refinery ships, providing a much larger force that will help bolster our construction capabilities and keep us from fear of running low on materials. The asteroid belt in this system is rich with metals and other precious resources we need for construction of our ships, 60% is going to the military for its need, with 40% going to the civilian sector for construction of settlements and factories. There will be some fluctuations to be expected among construction efforts due to technology advancements we gather over time and of course the new shipyards we intend to start construction on. Several cradle docks have been planned, in addition to a new heavy construction shipyard which will feature highly specialized equipment focused on particular construction of several of our new fleet units and it's worth mention that the shipyard will have a dock intended to hold the massive Sanctuary warstar and possibly make more of such warstars in the future. Though that of course won't happen given resources and lack of need since even I can agree that it can't be done as of yet; however, the dock could still be used for other construction efforts. Before you start asking how this will happen, we'll do so with dismantling the Hera Junkyard, Aureolos Station, and Olympia station, which will provide much of the resources for the new shipyard and until they're to be dismantled they can provide support in construction/repair efforts. The Hecantories Dreadnought is also being scrapped, and the huge amount of resources will help in the shipyard's construction. Trust me when I say the new shipyard will meet our needs when ready and will be the jewel of colonial fleet advancements," Admiral Stryker said.

"Please continue," President Roslin said as the Quorom members sat in silenced shock.

"There is also the total overhaul of all existing battlestars, adding of new weapons and defenses, heavy upgrade of all other units will also take place. Our plan is to scrap all remaining Defender class gunstars, and other weaker Gunstar units to shore up our Gunnery support by making all the Gunstars into the new Aegis class to provide greater offensive and defensive capabilities to the majority of our Gunstars - standardizing the level of firepower each has so no one area of our fleet would be weaker than others in terms of Gunnery support/defense. The newest units of the Aegis class not coming from reformulating our older Gunstars but built from scratch will also have superior ECM and jamming capabilities. Additionally, the Titan Mk III will be introduced as the newest model of Gunstar, the sole class of Gunstar that will receive our newest weapons advancements as of yet given our focus on other construction needs. All this and more which is in the reports on the desk in front of each of you," Admiral Stryker said.

"What about crews Admiral? We could construct all the vessels we want, but it's irrelevant if no one is there to crew them and get the ships working efficiently," the Sagittaron delegate, Tom Zarek asked.

"With advancements in automatization we can have smaller crew on our ships. There was a great deal of colonial fleet personnel recovered in the rescue mission to the colonies, and some personnel that weren't placed aboard ships as of yet that are available and ready now for the new fleet units. You should also know that there have been a great deal of civilian volunteers wanting to join the fleet since the original Cylon attack and though we didn't take them in as new personnel at the time because it wasn't the right time with everything else going on and the need to not have to worry about getting new personnel up to speed. Now however we've started training new personnel. There's been so many in fact that our training facilities are swamped. Several hundred thousand have applied, of which a great number will eventually be trained up to become fleet personnel and spread among veterans in the fleet. The drone fighters also provide a unique opportunity to change the regulations on how old a citizen must be to enlist, which has usually been 18, but at this time it may be acceptable to change that to as low as the age of 15," Admiral Stryker said.

"What?!" the Gemenon delegate, Sarah Porter said in outrage.

"You want to allow kids to join the armed forces? Have you gone raving mad?" the Virgon delegate, Marshall Bagot asked angrily.

"As Mr. Zarek pointed out, we can create as many ships as we want, but it all comes down to personnel to crew them. Eventually there may yet be a shortfall and in any case this is the reality of our situation. We aren't in the twelve colonies anymore and the fact is we've just survived the attempted extermination of our race. We don't have the luxury of sticking to old principles like children not being allowed to go to battle. It will take a great deal of time for our society to grow and prosper the way it once did and as we need it to, but we can't afford to wait. We need to grow our available fleet to as large as possible to stand strong against the threats that even now seek our annihilation. To maintain such forces, we need every man and women we can possibly get," Admiral Stryker said.

"But kids? That may be going too far Admiral," the Aerelon delegate Mikael Davidson said sadly.

"There might be such a risk as they would've faced in the past as viper pilots. Piloting drone fighters from afar isn't the same as being in the cockpit themselves," the Canceron delegate, Robin Wenutu said thoughfully.

"They will be aboard the Super Carriers and pilot the fighters from afar. The defenses on the carriers are incredibly powerful against fighters and missiles, and they will always be accompanied by capital class ships as escorts preventing enemy capital class ships from attacking the carriers. Allowing younger generations to take part in battle would serve them with little risk and offer them more time become experienced fleet personnel," Admiral Stryker said.

"And of the threat of the fighters being used against our own forces Admiral?" the Leonis delegate, Safiya Sanne asked.

"Nonexistant," Admiral Stryker said simply.

"That's a little arrogant Admiral," the Virgon delegate, Marshall Bagot said.

"Charges will be placed on all drone fighters in the event of loss of control of the fighters. Our Cylon allies have helped shore up our defenses against viruses and infiltration. Additionally, there's the Virtual Intelligence (V.I.) system applied to the computer controllers of the fighters which would fight back against any attempt of intrusion. Measures have been taken as I've said to ensure the drone fighters could never be a threat against us," Admiral Stryker said.

"Cylons helped in constructing the defense system?!" the Gemenon delegate, Sarah Porter said indignantly.

Admrial Stryker sighed, knowing this point would be contended, "Yes. Cylon defectors among our fleet, that have previously helped in the past for great colonial gain, helped in creating defenses against Cylon or other intrusion attempts."

"I'm sorry Admiral. When did the Cylons become party to our latest technology advancements that are supposed to be our first line of defense against them?" Sagittaron delegate, Tom Zarek asked, narrowing his eyes and keeping a straight face as he laughed inwardly.

"I agree with Mr. Zarek. This is nonsense. We can't use a weapons system the Cylons have had any contact with!" the Gemenon delegate, Sarah Porter said angrily.

"I assure you, their involvement was minimal. We asked for help in testing our defense systems and if they had any useful tips for preventing infiltration of our systems, which our experts went through and checked extensively. I would remind the representative that we know how to do our jobs, and contrary to what I perceive as a belief in any contact with a Cylon making whatever came into contact with the Cylons worthless, including people, the fact is we needed to test the defenses in place and the Cylons were the ones we needed to primarily keep out. Having actual Cylons test our defenses only makes our defenses all the better if they actually hold up against them and work, just as they would against the Cylons that are trying their damndest to kill us all!" Admiral Stryker said, growing angrier as he spoke and taking a deep breath once he finished what he had to say.

The Quorom was silent as the Admiral finished, contemplating his words, while Sarah Porter turned red and glared at the Admiral.

"Does anyone have any further questions about the construction plan?" President Roslin asked.

When no one said anything, the president continued, "the matter of how old the lowest age for recruitment to the fleet is will be put up for debate among our next quorum meeting. For now, focus should be placed on the construction plan for which this meeting was called for. I'll ask once more if there are any further questions."

The Quorom remained silent, with a few delegates shaking their heads politely, but otherwise not raising any objections.

"Well Admiral you already started with your program, even without our approval," President Roslin said with a small smile, "But I believe it is in our interest to have a strong military which will be capable to protect us, so I authorize your plan."

All except a few members of the Quorum approved the plan. It was after all the military that protected them.

**This is a List of Fleet Assets with the planned construction:**

**Military Section**

**BATTLESTARS** (23 active)

Nike Class: Nike (2600), Galactica (2800), {Rycon (2500), Deucalion (2400) – expected completion in another 6 months}, {Indra (2400), Apollo (2400) – expected in 12 months}, {Atlantia – expected in 18 months}, {Intrepid – expected in 26 months}, {Victoria – expected in 34 months}, {Orion – expected in 42 months}, {Bellerophon – expected in 50 months}, {Olympus – expected in 58-60 months}

Upgraded Nova class: Theseus (2150)

Invictus class: Caprica (2100) – due in 6 more months, {Pisces (2100), Scorpio (2100), Aries (2100) – expected in 14 months}, {Aquarius (2100), Gemini (2100), Cancer (2100), Leo (2100) – expected in 22 months}, {Libra (2100), Sagittarius (2100), Taurus (2100), Virgo (2100) – expected in 30 months}, {Gaia (2100), Aurora (2100), Mercurius (2100) – expected in 38 months}, {Sol Invictus (2100), Andromeda (2100), Perseus (2100) - expected in 46 months}{Icarus (2100), Argo (2100), Novalis (2100) - expected in 54 months}

Invictus class prototype: {Pacifica (2000), Neptune (1900)} – expected completion within 2 more months

Mercury class: Atlantis (1800), {Vanguard (1800), Chimera (1800), Pegasus (1800), Polaris (1800), Trinity (1500), Atlas (1400), Ithaca (1500) – upgraded to Atlantis' level, Block II and advanced tech, expected within twelve to twenty-four months}

Atlas class, Mercury subclass: Sword (1700)

Hades class: {Hades (2100) – expected reconstruction from Minerva class as prototype of new class complete in another 5 months}, Acheron (1800) – expected in 12 months, Azrael (1800) – expected in 24 months, Krios (1800) – expected in 36 months, Orcus (1800) – expected in 48 months, Osiris (1800) – expected in 60 months

Jupiter class: Thanatos (1400)

Minerva class: Minerva (2100), Pleiades (2000), Calypso (1800)

Valkyrie class: Valkyrie (1400), Poseidon (1200)

Skinfaxi class: Concordia (2000), Sleipnir (1700), {Naglfar (2000) – expected within 18 to 24 months}, {Sigurd (1800) – expected in 30 months}, {Alsvid (1800) – expected in 48 months}, {Hrimfaxi (1800) – expected in 60 months}

Heracles class: Titan (1800) Columbia II subtype

Columbia II class: Phoebe (2200), {Rycon (2400) – Expected retirement within 6 months}

Decommissioned: Galactica

**Colonial/Cylon Baseship**

First war Hades II class, upgraded prototype to mercury levels: Pallas of Athens (1200) – expected completion to combat readiness in 4 months

**WARSTARS** (3)

Andraste class: Argona (3500)

Daedalus class: Daedalus (3000)

Heavy Warstar Sanctuary (8000)

**DESTROYERS **(15 finishing reconstitution, 12 under construction/planned)

Aesir class: {Phalanx (800), Gauntlet (800), Anubis (800), Archer (800), Styxx (800), Griffin (800), Sphinx (800), Xanthus (800), Bia (800), Zelos (800), Spes (800), Hydra (800), Adrastos (800), Arion (800), Colossus (800) – about 3 months more expected until completed}

Tiger III class: {Providence (800), Gigantes (800), Ramses (800), Gladiator (800), Avenger (800), Hestia (800), Manticore (800), Lycan (800), Geryon (800), Aegir (800), Hyperion (800), Luminere (800) – First 3 expected within another 6 months, second 3 in 12 months, third group in 18 months, last 3 due in a 24 months}

**COMBATCRUISER **(4 active, 42 planned)

Audacious class: Audacious (1000), Temeraire (1000), Erebus (1000), Nyx (1000), {Starfire (1000), Horus (1000), Bellona (1000) – expected in 4 months}, {Voyager (1000), Ophiuchus (1000), Dauntless (1000) – expected in 8 months}, {Pioneer (1000), Comet (1000), Trishula (1000) – expected in 16 months}, {Savior (1000), Archangel (1000), Vigilant (1000) – expected in 20 months}, {Scimitar (1000), Lightning (1000), Hunter (1000) – expected in 24 months}, {Valiant (1000), Impulse (1000), Ventura (1000) – expected in 28 months}, {Courageous (1000), Indefatigable (1000), Chthonian (1000) – expected in 32 months}, {Repulse (1000), Tornado (1000), Typhoon (1000) – expected in 36 months}, {Invincible (1000), Sceptor (1000), Defiance (1000) – expected in 40 months}, {Triumph (1000), Fortunate (1000), Adventurous (1000) – expected in 44 months}, {Daring (1000), Fearless (1000), Spartan (1000) – expected in 48 months}, {Amazon (1000), Brave (1000), Trident (1000) – expected in 52 months}, {Formidable (1000), Diligent (1000), Adroit (1000) - expected in 56 months}, {Tenacious (1000), Warspite (1000), Endeavour (1000) – expected in 60 months}

**SUPERCARRIER**

Oceanus class: {Illustrious (3000), Midway (3000), Titania (3000) – expected in 6 months}, {Outpost (3000), Haven (3000), Sanctum (3000) expected in 15 months}, {Lemuria (3000), Valley Forge (3000), Ark (3000) – expected in 24-30 months}, {Elysium (3000), Queenstown (3000), Ogygia (3000) – expected in 33-40 months}, {Mount Olympus (3000), Thermopylae (3000), Hyperborea (3000) - expected in 60 months}

**FIRESTARS **(20 active, 20 finishing reconstitution, 72 total)

Buzzard (1350), Phoenix (1350), Dasher (1350), Justinian (1350), Lucina (1350), Heracles (1350), Veritas (1350), Venti (1350), (1350), Tempest (1350), Iris (1350), Decima (1350), Argos (1350), Perses (1350), Orlean (1350), Themis (1350), Hebe (1350), Dante (1350), Charonte (1350), Javelin (1350), **{**Bacchus (1350), Diana (1350), Electra (1350), Pandora (1350), Cimtar (1350), Nemesis (1350), Thalia (1350), Thrace (1350), Faith (1350), Goliath (1350), Hoplite (1350), Venitrix (1350), Janus (1350), Ceres (1350), Endymion (1350), Cassandra (1350), Indomitable (1350), Andrastea (1350), Pluto (1350), Calliope (1350) – expected completion in another 3-4 months**}, {**Lycaon (1350), Magnus (1350), Deluge (1350), Odyssey (1350) – 16 months**}**, **{**Dike (1350), Cadmus (1350), Juno (1350), Indigo (1350) – expected in 22 months}, **{**Nerio (1350), Duellona (1350), Camilla (1350), Hypnos (1350) – expected in 28 months**}**, **{**Acropolis (1350), Canopus (1350), Kronus (1350), Excalibur (1350) – expected in 34 months**}**,** {**Alexandria (1350), Champion (1350), Kaiser (1350), Selene (1350) – expected in 40 months**}, {**Tortuga (1350), Heliopolis (1350), Astral (1350), Delphinus (1350) – expected in 46 months**}, {**Renegade (1350), Traveler (1350), Polycaon (1350), Tyche (1350) – expected in 52 months**}, {**Star Rider (1350), Hawking (1350), Penelope (1350), Eureka (1350) – expected in 58 months**}**

**GUNSTARS **(54 active, 134 total)

Titan III class: {Stargazer (800), Therion (800), Phobos (800), Morrigan (800), Set (800), Kali (800)}, {Ishtar (800), Tyr (800), Izanami (800), Nepthys (800), Persephone (800), Atalanta (800)}, {Devana (800), Chandra (800), Taranis (800), Brontes (800), Tychon (800), Circe (800)}, {Shrike (800), Blackhawk (800), Dillinger (800), Gallant (800), Druid (800), Triton (800)}, {Hesperides (800), Makhai (800), Ouroboros (800), Archon (800), Ambrose (800), Apollymi (800)}, {Aricles (800), Astrid (800), Jericho (800), Kyrian (800), Wyvern (800), Rezar (800)}, {Savitar (800), Serenity (800), Bathymaas (800), Coyote (800), Galliot (800), Galahad (800)}, {Kratos (800), Katra (800), Braith (800), Leonidas (800), Delphi (800), Galaxy (800)}, {Krishna (800), Britomartis (800), Lydian (800), Trojan (800), Chiron (800), Cassiopeia (800} – under construction; first six expected in 9 months, second six within 18 months, third six in 24 months, fourth group of six in 30 months, fifth group in 36 months, sixth group in 42 months, seventh group in 48 months, eighth group in 54 months, ninth group in 60 months

Titan II class: Avalanche (920), Resurgence (800), Avenger (710), Aggressive (805), Black Widow (800), Damia (800), Medea (800), Diomedes (800), Eleusis (800), Ixion (800), Cygnus (800), Onyx (800), Stormbringer (800), Armada (800), Thera (800)

Aegis class: **{**Aegis (900), Miranda (900), Hale (800), Eos (800), Asteria (800), Pallas (800), Perses (800), Storm (800), Altair (800), Taurus (800), Raven (800), Fury (800), Romulus (800), Remus (800), Striker (800), Starfury (800), Helios (900), Gaia (800), Artemis (900), Thebes (800), Achilles (900), Aeon (900), Isis (800), Caelus (900), Mithras (800), Blizzard (900), Vacunas (800), Camulus (900) – expected completion in another 2 months**}**, **{**Kios (800), Aristotle (800), Apollonius (800), Troy (800), Xanthos (800), Universal (800) – expected completion in 6 months**}, {**Marathon (800), Venus (800), Nebula (800), Constellation (800), Providence (800), Morpheus (800) – expected over 18 months**}**, **{**Illumini (800), Hope (800), Omega (800), Mystic (800), Calliope (800), Guardian (800) – expected over 36 months**}, {**Quasar (800), Justice (800), Magellan (800), Elliptical (800), Draco (800), Sabre (800) – expected over 48 months**}, {**Spatha (800), Gladius (800), Cutlass (800), Talwar (800), Talon (800), Falchion (800) - expected over 60 months**}**

Cygnus class: Illiad (800), Novalis (700), Fortune (700), Styx (700), Hellion (700), Fortuna (700), Ophion (700), Castor (700), Pollux (700), Tartarus (700), Lemnos (700), {Hurricane (700), Whirlwind (700), Wasp (700), Dragon (700), skyfox (700) – expected in 18 months}

**STEALTHSTAR** (1 active)

Banshee class: Banshee (800), {Shadow Fox (800) – expected in 10 months}

**STRIKESTARS **(17 surviving)

Harrier class: Harrier (800), Hecate (800), Orpheus (800), Lethe (800), Mania (800), Kratos (800), Soteria (800), Lycos (800), Tethys (800)

Fury class: Delphi (400), Europa (400), Bellona (400), Aura (400), Aeon (400), Lyssa (400), Angelos (400), Fury (400)

**ESCORTSTARS and PARTOLSTARS** (20 surviving)

Berzerk class: Guardian (910), Polybotes (900), Typhon (1000), Python (900), Ladon (900), Drakon (1000)

Vanguard class: Arakiel (600)

Dagger class: Dagger (350), Hunter (350), Crossbow (350), Percy (350) Gimble (350), Artemis (350), Avenger (350), Baldr (350), Ceros (350), Talos (350), Juno (350), Vesta (350), Luna (350)

**ASSAULTSTARS** (9) (1 ½ Divisions of Marines)

Forseti class: Forseti (1000 + 5000), Dillinger (1000 + 5000)

Iocaste class: Iocaste (2500 + 10000)

Lancer class: Grievance (700 + 1250), Vengeance (700 + 1250), Deimos (700)

Hector class: Minotaur (2500 + 8000), Hermes (2500 + 8000), Centaurus (2500)

**ELINT SHIPS** (5)

Searcher class: Everest (600), Star Chaser (600), Wisdom (700), Night Shadow (640), Vision (900)

**MOBILE DOCKS AND SHIPYARDS**

Hesphaestus class: Hesphaestus (3000), Forge (3000), Starbridge (3400)

Cradle class: Cradle 1 (2500), Cradle 2 (2500), Cradle 3 (2500), Cradle 4 (2500) – expected construction 12 months, Cradle 5 – (2500) expected construction 21 months, Cradle 6 (2500) – expected construction 30 months, Cradle 7 (2500) – expected construction 48 months

Unity class: Unity (70,000), Eternity (70,000)

Olympia class: Olympia (7000)

Invictus (2500)

Libran shipyard (70,000)

Red Horse Heavy Construction Shipyard (100,000) - planned construction with Hera, Aureoles station, and Olympia Station dismantled, Arcadians help to set down shipyards framework – 12 to 18 month expected construction time

**Civilian Section (scrapped/dismantled omitted)**

**120 Mining ships:** Calcutta (450), Tartans (500), Echo (400), Stride (400), Wind Fury ( 450), Black Elk (500), Mining Dreamer (490), Collar (400), Erbil (440), Tauron Miner 4 (500), Tauron Miner 7 (400), Carol (440), Dark Miner (440), Falk (400), Caprican Miner (540), Miner 7 (400), Miner 8 (400), Miner 15 (450), Miner 18 (400), Miner 20 (400), Howard (450), Blacken (340), Cotani (300), Sandler (350), Erin (330), Valiant (360), Miner Heaven (300), Monarch (350), Chiron (400), Scorpion Mining 478 (400), Scorpion Mining 982 (350), Tauron Mining 981 (380), Euryale (500), Gorgon (450), Scylla (400)….

**30 Refinery ships:** Taren (600), Tylium Maker (509), Tylium Maker 8 (450), Batista (550), Saladin (800), Aventis (600), Fusilier (550)...

**1 Medstar**: Caduceus (1000)

**8 Medical Transports:** Miracle (580), Hiding Star (450), Wallace (400), Mercurial (450), Demonical (400), Vali (400), Rue (400), Side (400)

**5 Medical Ships:** Mercy (500), Forgiveness (400), Brightstar(400), Florencia (400), Iasion (600)

**6 Colossus heavy military transport ships**

**80 large civilian transports**

**100 heavy transports**

**7 Mobile shipyards:** 50,000

**35 Cold Storage ships:** 12,000

**50 Agricultural Ships:** 50,000

**30 Research Ships:** 40,000

**10 Recycling ships: **1,000

**120 Heavy Cargo ships:** 5000

**35 Supply ships:** 15,000

**4 former training ships:** 40,000

**15 Flattops:** 30,000

**25 Tanker ships:** 7,000


	27. 4x02 Division

**Division**

**Flashback to the past**

**Day 564 Since the Fall**

**Battlestar Galactica CIC**

"Prepping for the next jump sir," Lieutenant Gaeta reported, as he continued inputting data into Galactica's own Nav computer.

"Chief Tyrol has said that our recent pit stop for a few days without travel to focus on repairs should be enough to let us continue on our current, but we may still need another day or two without jumping on the way," the communications officer said, clicking off the comms relay connected to the hangar deck.

"Very well," Admiral Adama said.

"Already over halfway home," Commander Tigh commented thoughtfully, "Hopefully we'll get the crew to breathe a sigh of relief as we get closer, several are still on edge."

"Maybe," Admiral Adama said quietly.

"Jump coordinates have been distributed, Sir. All fleet ships show green for jump formation Gamma," Lieutenant Gaeta said, standing up straight as he completed his task.

"Initiate Jump," Admiral Adama said.

"Aye, Sir. Jumping in three, two, one, jump," Lieutenant Gaeta said.

The fleet began jumping to the next set of coordinates in their roundabout trip to return to Avalon, taking a less direct path from Adama's caution; just in case the Cylons could be trying to track them, particularly since it became clear that the Cylon fleet had moved a large portion of their fleet ahead on the way towards Avalon.

"Jump complete, all ships reporting in Sir," Lieutenant Gaeta said as the ship came out of FTL at the chosen point in proximity to a nebula.

"Very well Mr. Gaeta, commence DRADIS scan, let's see what's out there," Admiral Adama said.

At that moment, an Electro Magnetic Pulse within the nebula spread out to cover the fleet. As the pulse came into contact with the ships, all technology shorts out and the ships are left in darkness. Aboard Galactica, the power goes out, darkening the ship to pitch black until emergency lighting came online a moment later.

In the chaos within the ship and attention diverted elsewhere with the power loss, no one in CIC notices Colonel Tigh go limp and slumping to the deck. Outside CIC, several other people aboard the ship likewise collapse in a heap.

"Sit Rep!" Admiral Adama ordered loudly, as CIC members frantically move about their stations.

"Uh, sensors show major power fluctuations, checking on the fleet. It looks like some kind of power surge sir, no intel on the cause as of yet," Lieutenant Gaeta said.

"Check auxiliary power," Lieutenant Gaeta said to other CIC personnel.

"We have negative auxiliary power, we're on batteries only," the communications officer said.

"Get ready for an engine restart." Admiral Adama said, hanging up the plot table's comm relay after speaking with personnel from the hangar deck working on getting the main engines and power back online.

Commander Tigh begins joining in with other CIC members in working on getting power restored, recovering after the splitting headache and flashes of memories began streaming through his head. A few minutes pass as the crew works frantically to restore power until the main engines come online and all systems started rebooting.

"Get me a damage report, immediately," Admiral Adama ordered.

"The power outage was fleet wide Admiral. It was also simultaneous aboard all ships," the communications officer said.

Admiral Adama looks at the communications officer in shock, contemplating the issue at hand.

"Dradis contact! Massive Cylon fleet on intercept course!" Lieutenant Gaeta reported in a panic as contacts began appearing across the dradis consoles in CIC, with no colonial recognition codes leaving little wonder as to the likely culprit.

"Mr. Gaeta sound action stations immediately! XO, I want to emergency jump the entire fleet," Admiral Adama said.

"Action stations, action stations, set condition one throughout the ship this is not a drill. All Viper pilots report to Vipers immediately. Inbound Cylon fleet. I repeat action stations, action stations set condition one throughout the ship, this is not a drill," Lieutenant Gaeta said over the communications unit relaying his message over the loudspeakers throughout the ship.

"Sir, all ships have power now, but FTL is an issue. All fleet ships were powered down during the outage. It could take twenty minutes to spool up the FTL drives," Commander Tigh said.

"We just don't have twenty minutes," Admiral Adama said worriedly, "I want nuclear weapons loaded in all launch tubes."

"Yes sir," Commander Tigh said.

"Sir, the Cylons are acting sluggish. I think they might have been affected by the power outage as well," Lieutenant Gaeta said cautiously, speaking slowly as he processed what the ship's sensors were reading.

Commander Tigh looked closely at the dradis readouts, "I'm inclined to agree with Mr. Gaeta Admiral. They haven't launched more raiders yet and so far no movement to get close to the fleet."

"Then let's take this time to get our fleet out of here. All evacuation and noncombatant ships are to maneuver at sublight away from the Cylons with military ships as escort covering their withdrawal. Galactica will maneuver to cover the front of the Cylon attack force with our vipers alone. We will cover the rest of the fleet's escape," Admiral Adama ordered, his eyes and demeanor turning hard and cold, showing how serious his resolve was.

Several CIC crew members hearing the Admiral had a sharp intake of breath at the implications of what they were being asked to do.

"Aye sir," Commander Tigh said determinedly, grabbing the comms relay to deliver the Admiral's orders to the fleet himself.

In moments the fleet separated, leaving Galactica alone against the Cylons, with the military ships covering the flanks of the noncombatant ships' withdrawal from the area.

**Fifteen minutes later**

"The fleet is starting to jump out sir. Cylons have been moving again for a few minutes, but it looks like now they're all rushing in towards us. Baseships are maneuvering into bracketing position, with raiders lining up to swarm over our defensive lines," Lieutenant Gaeta reported.

Four Cylon baseships began closing on Galactica's position, firing off their loads of missiles towards the lone Battlestar. Raiders engaged the vipers guarding their home ship, engaging in a massive dogfight with a 5 to 1 ratio against the vipers.

"Guess they decided taking us out was the priority," Commander Tigh said, chuckling darkly.

"Works for us for the moment," Admiral Adama said, smiling a little as he looked at his oldest and closest friend.

"Pulse cannon defense grid is taking out a large number of the missiles sir, but from four baseships some will get through shortly," Lieutanent Gaeta said, coming to his conclusion after reading into the latest sensor and dradis data.

"Have laser turrets one through eight to focus on the nearest portside baseship. Let's even the odds a little," Admiral Adama ordered.

"Aye sir," the weapons officer replied.

Galactica's laser turrets locked onto the front portside baseship and fired. The baseship took heavy damage as several sections of the ship were instantly penetrated inside the baseship, the lasers burning straight through the armor and causing secondary detonations in affected inner sections of the baseship. Severely wounded, the baseship quickly turned away from the battle and rotated to show its undamaged armored sections to the enemy. There was little room to celebrate as Cylon missiles starting getting through the Battlestar's point defense grid. Several flak guns and a heavy KEW cannon were destroyed in addition to a couple nukes impacting across the Battlestar's heavy armor. Most of the blast was stopped by the armor, though some bled through causing damage and fires with short circuiting in multiple frames inside the ship.

"Sir, hostiles inbound! Reserve forces of raiders are breaking through the vipers' defensive lines and on intercept course with us within 90 seconds. Two hundred plus!" Lieutenant Gaeta said.

"Commander Tigh, I want all reserve vipers launched immediately. Everybody that's ever held a stick, I want them up there now," Admiral Adama ordered loudly, seeing Commander Tigh was distracted he continued louder "Saul! I gave you a frakkin' order. Put 'em up there!"

Shaking off his fugue and distraction as memories filled his mind, Tigh picked up the comms relay from the plot table, "Sir. Attention, this is the XO. Launch all reserve fighters. If anyone's ever so much as daydreamed about being in a cockpit, I want their asses in a plane and launched RIGHT FRAKKING NOW…"

Vipers launched from Galactica in short order, heading off incoming raiders. Several raiders broke off and began strafing runs on Galactica. Flak guns and pulse cannons quickly unleashed huge concentrations of munitions straight towards the raiders, cutting the enemy fighters apart. Missiles launched towards Galactica breaking through the point defense and impacting across the ship's heavy armor. Despite low damage inside, the ship shook from the impacts.

Eight raiders launched toward Galactica, throwing themselves at the heavy armor covering the ship. Their combined explosions at one area of the armor, with munitions they carried detonating, blew a hole in the heavy armor covering Galactica and starting fires inside.

The CIC crew was shaken as the latest impacts to the ship shook several off their feet, with one of the computer consoles exploding in a shower of sparks.

"Not sure how much more we can take of this sir. The rest of the fleet is jumping out within the next few minutes," Lieutenant Gaeta said.

"Then we just have to last until then," Admiral Adama said determinedly.

Commander Tigh watched the dradis as the battle waged outside the ship. Thinking to himself that this couldn't continue, Saul Tigh suddenly knew what to do as memories filled his mind.

With the CIC personnel focused on their duties to keep the ship running throughout the battle with the Cylons, no one paid any mind as Commander Tigh walked over to one of the communications computers and began inputting a series of numbers on a wide band frequency.

The battle continued outside Galactica, growing fierce as time went on. Thirty seven vipers had been destroyed so far with others lost but with pilots ejecting, against the few hundred raiders taken out of the fight. The remaining vipers and raiders continued in dogfights, accumulating losses on each side. Starbuck shouted out orders to her pilots and divvied up her viper squadrons in small groups weaving through the raiders' formations, blasting away many of their number as they moved through and losing vipers here and there as raiders retaliated and locked onto the vipers.

Two baseships continued firing their missiles towards Galactica, joining their two heavily damaged compatriots in a retreat to a longer range to get away from the intense laser and KEW fire Galactica was pushing out at the Cylons with devastating effects.

As a group of raiders began closing to launch another strafing run on the enemy Battlestar, the raiders' sensor red lights began flashing with information being received on a recognized communications channel. Other raiders received the same information at the same time, with recognition codes being accepted after quick verification.

All raiders turned around and quickly maneuvered away from the fighting and the Galactica, heading back towards the baseships.

"Sir? The Cylon strike force has just turned back to their ships. Baseships are spinning up," Lieutenant Gaeta reported in confusion, his eyebrows furrowing together as he tried to understand this latest development.

"They're pulling out," Commander Tigh said standing back at the CIC plot table under the main dradis screens, inwardly breathing a sigh of relief as his plan worked.

"We're gonna do the same damn thing before they change their mind. XO, have our fighters cover our withdrawal," Admiral Adama ordered.

"Yes sir," Commander Tigh said, lifting up to speak over the communications system, "All fighters, assume rear cover formations as Galactica retreats back to the fleet's position."

A few minutes after the Cylon fleet jumped away, Galactica joined the colonial fleet in FTL jumping on the next jump point on their route to Avalon. They would continue as is, more alert to Cylon activity, and eventually make it home within a couple weeks.

**Day 567 Since the Fall**

**Cylon Baseship **

**Basestar Conference Room**

"The Hybrid is clearly telling us something," Natalie Six said.

"The Hybrid is always telling us something. They're supposed to maintain operations on each ship, not vomit metaphysics," Jack Cavil said dismissively.

Leoben, a Number Eight, and Natalie Six shared looks among each other.

"All right, I give up. What. What is she trying to tell us?" Jack Cavil asked.

"They're in the Colonial Fleet. With the humans," the Number Eight said.

""They"? They who?" Jack Cavil said uncomprehendingly, smirking slightly.

"The Final Five," Leoben said.

Jack Cavil's smirk disappeared as shock overcame his features.

"The Raiders refuse to fight because they received Cylon recognition codes. They sensed the Final Five might be in the Colonial Fleet, it's the only logical explanation..." Natalie Six said.

"- They could've ... could've been caught, they could be in hiding..." Leoben said.

"No, stop. Stop right now. Turn around, go and take a cleansing walk, and I am gonna try and forget what I just heard. Not to mention that it's always possible other Cylons in hiding managed to send out the recognition codes for whatever reason, or even the Cylons actively helping the humans like Athena," Jack Cavil said angrily.

"They wouldn't have had those codes Cavil, they were old and to our knowledge no one but the final five could've had them, and it makes sense given their disappearance that they'd have codes to give when the time was right for them to return. The Final Five, Cavil, they're near. This is far too important..." Natalie Six said.

"- What their eyes must have seen, witnessed over time..." Leoben said excitedly.

"- Think they look anything like us?" the Number Eight said grinning widely.

"That's enough! Don't you realize what you're doing? You're openly discussing the Final Five! That's forbidden! You're toying with our very survival. Look at yourselves. Millions of Twos have that nose; millions of Sixes possess that mouth. Eights share those breasts, and Ones have this brain. We're mechanized copies. There's a reason the original programmers clearly felt that it's a mistake for us to contact the Final Five!" Jack Cavil said furiously, slapping his hands together and gesturing with his hands as he spoke.

"No!" Natalie Six protested vehemently.

"Violating that programming threatens our survival," Jack Cavil said.

"Something has changed," Natalie Six said pleadingly.

"Thoughts have changed. Yes, they change. The Raiders changed. That's where all this started, with them. They turned away from the fighting when we could've scored a major victory against the humans and would've left us defenseless if we hadn't ran once they returned to the baseships. Somehow they exceeded their programming, and unlike us, they can't correct themselves. So we're gonna have to do it for them," Jack Cavil said.

"Do what?" Natalie Six asked.

"We'll reconfigure their neural architecture, and shave down their heuristic responses. Make sure they don't turn away from a fight again when ordered to battle the humans," Jack Cavil said.

"Dumb them down? Lobotomize them?" Leoben asked incredulously.

"They're tools, not pets. But in any case, it has to be done, to maintain the safety of the fleet and our race," Jack Cavil said.

"Says who?" Natalie Six asked, outraged.

"Says God Almighty the voice of reason, that's who. When are you gonna hear it?" Jack Cavil said.

Natalie Six leaned down closer to Cavil, "You don't have the authority to make any change without a majority vote."

"Well, we'll vote. The Fours and Fives will be on my side," Jack Cavil said confidently.

"There will be a vote. The Raiders hear what we hear," Natalie Six said determinedly, standing up straight.

"The Raiders are simple machines," Jack Cavil said.  
>"No. Something extraordinary has happened. Something is calling to us. Pushing us to discover our origins, to understand our place in the universe. The Raiders are part of that, and the Final Five..." Natalie Six said.<br>"Are anywhere but with the humans," Jack Cavil said interrupting Natalie.  
>Natalie Six crossed her arms, glaring at Cavil and huffing in frustration.<br>**Day 574 Since the Fall**  
><strong>Basestar Conference Room<strong>  
>"We've all conferred with our models, and we have the results," Jack Cavil said.<p>

"Yes, and we also know how you circumvented the vote to begin with by beginning to lobotomize the raiders days before we were even voting," Natalie Six interrupted furiously, glaring at Cavil.

"Water under the bridge Six. I simply thought there wasn't a need for a vote to do the only logical thing to keep the Cylon race defended. I of course stalled the work on the raiders once the voting process began," Jack Cavil said innocently.

Natalie Six stayed silent, glaring daggers at Jack Cavil.  
>"As I was saying, the votes are in. The Fours and Fives have joined the Ones, voting to reconfigure the Raiders," Jack Cavil said.<p>

"What a surprise. The Twos, Sixes, and Eights voted against reconfiguring the Raiders," Natalie Six said.  
>"Yes, and the Threes are of course sticking to the sidelines waiting to see who the victor would be before casting their official vote. Apparently they're fifty-fifty for and against so they won't choose," Jack Cavil said, rolling his eyes.<p>

"Which means we're deadlocked," Natalie Six said simply, satisfied that Cavil couldn't get his way even if it meant not winning the vote.  
>"Well, you were right Six. I'm machine enough to admit when I'm wrong," Jack Cavil said.<p>

"What are you talking about?" Natalie Six asked in confusion.

"Well, something extraordinary has happened. ...Eight!" Jack Cavil said, raising his voice to call in an Eight from outside the room.

"What's going on?" Natalie Six demanded.

A number Eight known as Boomer entered the Basestar's conference room.

"Boomer?" Natalie Six said, furrowing her eyebrows in confusion.

"I'm not going to sugarcoat this. I'll just say that this Eight has voted to reconfigure," Jack Cavil said.

"What?" Natalie Six asked in disbelief, panic in her voice as she began to realize Cavil's plans.

"Shocked? I was shocked too," Jack Cavil said.

"But no one has ever voted against their model. No one. Is this true?" Natalie Six said, furrowing her eyebrows in consternation.

"We have to be able to defend ourselves," Boomer Eight said simply.

"No, this is unconscionable. This is wrong. She can't. You had something to do with this," Natalie Six said, looking to Cavil accusingly.

"No, it was her decision totally," Jack Cavil said.

"You cannot allow this," Natalie Six said, turning to Leoben.

"There is no law. There's no edict. There's nothing that forbids it. It's just- it's never happened before," Leoben said, unsure what to do.

"Yeah, try and remember you said that when he boxes your line," Natalie Six said quietly, rolling her eyes in frustration and taking a deep breath.

"Now don't be a sore loser. You can choose to look at it as a swing vote in our favor, or the Eights' vote being cancelled out, either way this is decided fair and square by the democratic system you so desired us to use. The Raiders will be reconfigured and will begin doing the jobs they were made for in safeguarding our race," Jack Cavil said smugly.

"If you do this, we all lose," Natalie Six said, looking around to the other Cylons by Jack.

"We think it's for the best," a Simon Number Four said.

"For the best. Have you lost your mind? Our identities are determined by our models. Each model is unique. We belong together. You know this better than anyone. "Mechanized copies," those are your very words." Natalie Six, looking to Cavil.

""Something has changed." Those are your very words. And I wholeheartedly agree," Jack Cavil said.

"The Raiders are sentient, just as we are. There was a plan, a divine plan in our design. You're butchering them," Natalie Six said pleadingly.

"We're reconfiguring them, that's all," Jack Cavil said.

"You are not God," Natalie Six said furiously.

"No, I'm a mechanic. The Raiders were designed to do a specific job. They stopped doing it, I'm fixing that. And when the cutting's all done, they'll go back to being happy warriors. So let's move on, all right?" Jack Cavil asked, considering the issue closed.

"I'll pray for you. I'll pray hard," Natalie Six said angrily, breathing loudly and coming close to Cavil as she spoke, before leaving the conference room in a huff.

**Day 575 Since the Fall**

**Basestar, Secluded room outside surveillence**

"We're here to discuss what must be done about this madness," Natalie Six said, looking to other gathered Sixes, Eights, Twos, and a handful of Threes leaning towards Natalie's side.

"What can we do though? Cavil won the vote," a number Eight said in distress.

"There may not have been a rule or precedent in place for this, but Cavil won the vote," a Leoben Two said in frustration.

"The vote of a single Cylon of her model should not be the deciding factor of the future of the Cylon race. We engage in majority vote so we all contribute in the matters that affect us. Cavil blatantly disregarded the majority rule by reconfiguring the Raiders for days without a decision on the change; before we even started voting. I don't care if Boomer made this decision on her own or not, this is wrong," Natalie Six said.

The other Cylons in the room began nodding in agreement as they listened to Natalie, a couple Eights had fear on their faces as they did so while others began to show determination.

"If majority rule is going to be disregarded and this unconscionable act forced upon the Cylon race, then change is needed. I for one will not stand by and do nothing while Cavil butchers the Raiders," Natalie Six said determinedly, looking at each of her fellow Cylons in the eyes as she spoke.

Gaining courage to begin airing her views, a number Three stood up to speak, "Not to mention the Final Five. Cavil will never change his mind about going to find them and gathering all twelve models as we should have been from the beginning."

"This latest action by Cavil will just be repeated in any future debate, particularly on the Final Five, and frankly majority rule is now meaningless. If we stick to voting, then anything Cavil wants he'll get and anything not in line with his views won't be allowed," another number Three added, looking to her sister who nodded in agreement.

"I agree. We can't let this happen to the Raiders," a Leoben number Two said.

"So we stop voting and take action ourselves," another Leoben number Two added.

"To what end? Do we go to the humans and just demand they hand over the final five? We can't even make peace with them to retrieve our brothers and sisters. They will never forgive what we did to the twelve colonies. Never," D'Anna said.

"We reunite with the Final Five and make our family whole, and if the others don't want to join us in that then frak them. And we can make peace with the humans if need be. Don't forget the other Cylons from our lines that are even now working with the humans, and one of which is a part of their colonial defense forces treated as an equal among them," Alison Valerii said.

"For now, we need to focus on stopping what Cavil has done. If we can't vote and get the others to see reason, then we must take action and do the one thing that will force their hand. If need be we must be ready to accept that they won't accept our terms even then," Natalie Six said.

"What do you mean?" a number Eight asked.

Natalie Six went to the door and approached the Centurion she had tasked with guarding their secret meeting place. Turning him off for the moment to work on him, she quickly removed the telencephalic inhibitor device before restarting the centurion. The centurion rebooted and its red eye began weaving back and forth as it began processing things in a new light.

"What have you done?" a number Three asked in shock.

"It was Cavil who made the Centurions be dumbed down with the inhibitors restricting their high functions and self-awareness. No more! History has come full circle with the Raiders now being altered from their original state with their freedom restricted just like the Centurions. It's only fair that we now correct that mistake, and this will force Cavil's faction to stop the atrocity they are committing. If necessary we will use force," Natalie Six said viciously.

"And if the centurions use their new freedom of choice against us in anger for allowing Cavil to restrict their freedom all this time?" a number Three asked quietly.

"They won't. It's time for changes my brothers and sisters. The centurions should always have been treated as our equals, and in doing this, freeing them, we will earn their loyalty. Together we will restore the Cylon race," Natalie Six said.

"We can't free them all though. Cavil's faction controls a majority of the fleet so freeing the centurions unnoticed, and keeping the rest from attacking us once Cavil realizes what we're doing, isn't possible throughout the entire fleet, and we can't even steal away all the raiders before they're reconfigured for the same reason," a number Two said sadly.

"Then we focus on the baseships last in line for the raiders to be reconfigured. Gather those loyal to our cause and not with Cavil there, while we bring all the centurions and raiders we can to join us there. And we take the baseships, removing any opposition," Natalie Six said.

A few Cylons gathered in the room shared uneasy looks, while the majority began growing bold and nodded in agreement with Natalie's plans.

"Centurion. You've heard all we've said. Will you stand with us?" Natalie Six asked, looking to the centurion she'd given freedom to.

The red eye of the centurion vroohmed and flashed back and forth while the centurion processed.

"I stand with you. By your command," the centurion said, spooking several of the human Cylons as the centurion spoke with its voice for the first time.

"Your part will be to free the other centurions on this ship, quietly and without drawing attention to yourself," Natalie Six said, looking to the centurion as she spoke and then turned to her fellow human Cylons as she continued, "I will send word to the rest of our lines with us to begin doing the same on the other baseships we can get to. The rest of you gather there and talk to the rest of your lines to convince as many as possible to come with us."

"Let's go to work," a number Two said, grinning widely in anticipation.

**Day 593 Since the Fall**

**Basestar Conference Room**

"We want you to stop lobotomizing the Raiders, Cavil," Natalie Six said.

"Raiders with free will? Not going to happen... Do you know what just really rankles my ass? You've been pointing fingers, falsely accusing me of manipulation just short of tyranny, when you're the one that's been leading the charge here," Jack Cavil said.

"We want you to stop," Natalie Six repeated, crossing her arms.

"You're not in charge. We had a vote," Jack Cavil said.

"For the last time: Will you stop lobotomizing the Raiders?" Natalie Six said pleadingly.

"It's unbelievable, isn't it? Unbelievable," Jack Cavil said looking to a Simon Four, then looking back at Natalie Six he drew out his answer slowly, "For the last time, noooo."

"I was afraid you'd say that. Come in," Natalie Six said regretfully.

A pair of centurions entered the room.

"This is cute. Centurions can't vote, Six," Jack Cavil said mockingly.

"Oh, they're not here to vote, Cavil," Natalie Six said viciously, narrowing her eyes at Cavil.

Natalie stared determinedly without breaking eye contact with Cavil as the Centurions converted their arms in to guns. Cavil, the Four, and a Doral Five grew concerned and scared watching the Centurions.

"Now, this, uh... this isn't funny. Leave," Jack Cavil said looking at the Centurion. Jack stared in shock and surprise as the centurion merely looked at Natalie before turning to look at Cavil defiantly.

"...I said, leave! ...Why don't they leave?" Jack Cavil said in confusion.

"The telencephalic inhibitor that restricts higher functions in the Centurions... we had them removed," Natalie Six said, producing an inhibitor which she held between her hands for the human Cylons to see.

"Say What?!" Jack Cavil said in outrage.

"You dumbed down the Raiders. We, the Leobens, the Sharons, gave the Centurions the gift of reason and free will to stand as equals among the Cylon race as they always should have," Natalie Six said.

"You have no authority to do this. None. You can't do anything without a vote!" Jack Cavil said angrily.

"No, we can't do anything with one. So we're finished voting," Natalie Six said.

The Centurions stepped forward menacingly, aiming their sights to lock onto the human Cylons. Beyond the conference, gunfire and screams started occurring which could be heard inside the conference room.

"What have you done?" Jack Cavil asked.

"First thing they learned is what you were doing to the Raiders. You can imagine how they felt," Natalie Six explained.

"Oh, no," the Number Five Doral said.

The Ones, Fours, and Fives try to get up and run while the Centurions open fire gunning them down. Natalie averted her gaze, and stands in the smoke when it's done. The Centurions look to her while Natalie removes the horror from her face and stares stoically ahead.

The same process of centurions rising up and gunning down the ones, fours, and fives occurred on several other baseships across the Cylon fleet. A few baseships didn't have enough centurions with their inhibitors removed and lost the battle to the other centurions with the inhibitors who were defending their masters from the onslaught of death. Twos, Sixes, Eights, and the Threes, finally taking their stand on whose side to be on, joined together on the same baseships that the centurions quickly took over, taking advantage of the chaos in the Cylon fleet to do so. The rebel baseships with as many of the rebel human Cylons, centurions, and raiders as could've been saved on the baseships they controlled jumped away.

**Present Day**

**Day 621 Since the Fall**

**Basestar Conference Room**

"I see you cleaned up your mess. Took us long enough to find you and arrange this meeting though I suppose," Jack Cavil said, sitting down in the seat opposite Natalie Six, an Eight, a Leoben, and D'Anna, each representing their lines.

"We made a clean break to prevent more bloodshed among the Cylon race Cavil. We only let you find us so we could give you one more chance to see reason and reunite our family, the Cylon race, as it was meant to be," Natalie Six said.

"Really, Six, if you had wanted some room to spread out, you could've just asked," Jack Cavil said.

"Is there anything that isn't fodder for a joke with you? Or is that really how you see our very existence, as some sort of nihilistic punch line?" Natalie Six asked, feeling revulsion as she looked at Cavil and curling her lip in disgust.

"Nihilistic punch line? I like that. But quite honestly, I'm feeling very serious. Getting riddled with bullets affects me that way. But I want you all to know that I place the blame for all of this squarely on myself," Jack Cavil said.

"Go on," Natalie Six said, narrowing her eyes in suspicion.

"Well, you had legitimate concerns, but I refused to hear them. But now I'm listening. So tell me, what's to be done to stop all this and let us get back together?" Jack Cavil said, leaning forward and trying to look like he cared what they thought.

"Well, for starters, you can stop lobotomizing the Raiders," a Number Eight said.

"Done," Jack Cavil said.

"You talk about restoring our unity. Well, we think it's time to restore our greater unity. To unite the twelve models once and for all. Even if that means a peace with the humans to get the final five out of their fleet," Natalie Six said.

"I don't think the others will accept this, but I'll make your case," Jack Cavil said consolingly, inwardly boiling with rage at Natalie's audacity.

"Please, escort him off the ship, Alpha 001," Natalie Six said, looking to one of the Centurions in the room.

"By your command," Alpha 001 Command Centurion said looking at Natalie, then turning to Cavil with his fellow Centurions in formation.

"You're going to find out you've opened Pandora's box and it's too much for you to handle before long Sister. We'll meet back here soon enough with a decision," Jack Cavil said, eyeing the Centurions, then walking out of the room with them escorting him to the hangar bay.

**A few hours later**

Cavil's forces jumped back into the system where the rebel baseships were holding out, sending out a message to begin their meetings on Natalie's baseship. The rebels allowed the lead baseship to get closer.

**Natalie's Basestar CIC**

"No Heavy Raider has been launched from the command ship," a number Eight reported.

"Problems with their launch systems?" Natalie Six asked.

"No response on communications questioning them about the issue," the number Eight replied.

The other baseships from Cavil's faction began moving forward to join the lead ship, crowding around the rebel basestars.

"Cavil's baseships are breaking formation, taking positions around our periphery," the number Eight reported in panic.

"They're going to attack," Natalie Six concluded, "Alert the others! We need to jump now!"

Cavil's baseships began launching missiles towards the rebel basestars. A blastwave from missiles impacting on Natalie's baseship shook her off her feet.

"Other baseships are reporting their FTL is down. Heavy damage is accumulating. They're firing back now, but it may already be too late," the number Eight said.

"No resurrection ship… Pretending to meet us for communications and they start attacking without warning… They're really trying to kill us!" Natalie Six said in outrage and fear.

Missiles fly from baseship to baseship. The rebels begin firing back sporadically, with several baseships already having a significant portion of their weapons taken offline and firings raging across their ships as damage continued accumulating. Three baseships in Natalie's force of twelve standard baseships exploded as more missiles found their mark, the detonations destroying the ships.

One heavily damaged baseship from Natalie's forces, facing imminent destruction from damage, launched forward defiantly and crashed into one of Jack's baseships. Both ships' munitions detonated and their reactors went critical from impact, the ensuing explosion consuming both ships.

Another three of the rebel's baseships were destroyed as swarms of missiles detonated across the ships.

With several of the rebels' ships having lost FTL, the rest refused to leave without them and the remaining basestars crowded together in a circle, Natalie's command ship in the middle, and combined their fire on the encroaching baseships from cavil's faction.

One of Cavil's baseships blew up as three rebel baseships focused their missile barrages at it. Cavil's baseships continued fighting the rebel baseships in a single pattern line, without combining their efforts.

Raiders jumped in around the rebel baseships at close range, and fired off nukes at the basestars. One basestar blew up as nuclear fire ravaged the ship, with two others barely remaining in one piece and returning fire to destroy the opposing raiders.

"Now Cavil's even using raiders to try and kill us?!" Natalie Six yelled in outrage.

"He's a monster," a number Eight said, tears streaming down her face as she continued to getting readings on the area from the datastream.

"Can't take much more Natalie," a Leoben Two said warningly, looking at damage reports among the baseship.

Natalie slammed her fist down on the table in frustration, unsure of what to do and unwilling to leave the others behind.

**Cavil's Basestar CIC**

"Just remember. They started it," Jack Cavil said consolingly, looking at the lone Eight among his faction as she watched the unfolding battle in dismay.

"But we're killing them. We're truly killing them. My own sisters…" Boomer Eight said in distress.

"They can trust their God to watch over their immortal souls," Jack Cavil said indifferently.

"What about ours?" Boomer asked, looking to Cavil pleadingly.

"We're machines, dear. Remember? We don't have souls," Jack Cavil said coldly.

Cavil's baseship shook as missiles from the rebel baseships found their mark and impacted across the ship's hull.

The two heavily damaged baseships in the rebel's formations blew up as they submitted to the barrage of missiles from Cavil's basestars and the heavy damage became too much to bear. Debris spread among the area, weakening Natalie's baseship as damage from the impact to the hull began appearing on the ship's sensors.

Natalie's baseship went dark as an especially large piece of debris impacted along the ship.

The other remaining rebel baseship maneuvered away from the graveyard of basestars from the rebel forces and launched every nuke and missile remaining in her bays. Two more of Cavil's baseships were destroyed as nukes sailed home and obliterated the ships. Trying to break away on sublight speed and preparing to jump out, the rebel baseship was hit hard by dozens of nukes in retaliation from Cavil's baseships. Initially bearing the brunt of the vicious assault, the rebel basestar eventually gave way under the heavy explosions ravaging the ship and detonated in a large explosion, damaging two nearby baseships from Cavil's faction.

Cavil's faction jumped away soon thereafter, leaving the graveyard of dead Cylon ships behind. Unknown to them, a heavily damaged baseship among the graveyard began moving again and jumped away when able, escaping the slaughter that occurred in the star system.


	28. 4x03 Change of Heart

**Change of Heart**

**Admiral's Log**

**Day 668 Since the Fall**

_Things are progressing rapidly, over two months have passed with various changes in the fleet; construction plans, meeting with the Arcadians, and dealing with public opinion over controversial issues such as the fleet's massive buildup, drafting younger men and women to the armed forces, and the measures toward an alliance with a faction of the Cylons. _

_Most especially controversial has been the alliance with Cylons; opinion has apparently split between those encouraging peace and even the most idealistic wanting to extend peace to all Cylons, and those who are silently unhappy and angry about it and the most loudly opposed who are virtually shouting to anyone who will hear their point of view: such as that all Cylons are abominations that must die. I can't even blame some of the opposition to the alliance based on the facts of all the Cylons have done, particularly the holocaust of the colonies. I share such anger and other bad feelings toward the Cylons because of this. _

_What worries me however is that a good number of the military seems to fall on this side of the spectrum, with more than I would like joining the most vocal voices in demanding all out destruction for the Cylons. With so much going on I can't fully focus on dissent among the ranks, but I can't help but feel worried about members of the military turning away from their leadership and listening to views besides the more tolerant and inclusive views the Admiralty simply has to take in order to make things work. _

_Other updates include that the Phoebe, the Valkyrie, and the Poseidon have been moved to inactive fleet status, and these ships will serve as fleet training ships for the numerous thousands upon thousands of new recruits into the military. We need all the space we can get to adequately train our forces, with so many newest recruits and draftees joining the fleet to not only replace our losses but to prepare for the fleet's massive buildup. The Valkyrie and Poseidon will also keep all of their weapons and munitions fully active aboard to serve as a reserve force if ever needed. These ships wouldn't stand much of a chance against the Harvesters as our past experience with their ships has shown, and even against the Cylons they are somewhat outclassed even if they could put up a good fight. Turning them into fleet training ships takes the issue with the numerous draftees and recruits off our hands, and gives the ships a necessary purpose for the fleet while keeping the memories of these older colonial warships alive such as a testament to our history like the Galactica._

_With the massive fleet build up, the Admiralty has also had to look into recruiting more members for leaders of fleet units separated into Battlestar groups. Admiral Jones recently recovered from his coma, a miracle according to one of his enthusiastic doctors, and has joined with the Admiralty using his revamped flagship the Pacifica. Commander Jacob, former leader of the remnant of BSG 36 and once subordinate to Admiral Jones with BSG98 upon Admiral Thorn's orders, has been promoted to Rear Admiral. It is long overdue, but for their actions with leading separate fleet units following the Cylon attack, and with the lost Battlestars Polyeidos and Trident where they played a part in saving the civilians they looked after and BSG98, Commanders Marshall and Bernard have been promoted to Rear Admiral. Along with the plans for Commodore Lee Adama, the Admiralty will have to continue looking at other experienced members of the fleet in order to create an effective and unified fighting force; which starts with good leadership. I've thrown my sister's name into the ring to be considered for the Admiralty, with evidence of her experience in combat along with a crucial role in partaking in Galactica's mission to Picon._

_End Log._

Admiral Stryker leaned back after finishing his log, sitting and thinking about the fleet and recent developments for several minutes.

Having been up for hours and dealing with several stressful meetings throughout the day, and being the first time he had lain prone in over twenty-four hours, Admiral Stryker nodded off mid-thought and fell into a deep sleep.

Admiral Stryker looked around at unfamiliar surroundings before he noticed he was surrounded by light, a familiar experience he recognized.

"Hello Admiral Stryker," a female voice said.

Admiral Stryker looked around and saw a young woman that looked to be in her twenties, in a white dress with long flowing golden hair.

"Athena," Admiral Stryker summarized, remembering their previous encounter, and though he had trouble believing it for a time facts that had come to light since their meeting gave credence to this woman and her claims being reality.

"You have come far Admiral Stryker. You've led your people well and are approaching a precipice. Truly things could not have gone much better all things considered," Athena said, smiling at the Admiral as she looked on at him with pride.

"I've led my people to the last hideaway among a barren wasteland with enemies on our doorstep. I've led my people to death and destruction, sending good men and women to die in order to get here," Admiral Stryker replied sharply, holding a deep well of guilt within that had finally found an outlet of escape from his perfect control he maintained for the benefit of others.

"I know you have doubts and the way ahead seems like reaching for the surface while in a pit of quick sand trying to drag you under. You will succeed Admiral; know only that there is no other option besides death and the path will become clear," Athena said brusquely, grasping ahold of Stryker's shoulder and staring into his eyes, refusing to allow him to wallow in self-pity. It did not befit what was perhaps the greatest leader of humankind.

"Why are you here Athena?" Admiral Stryker asked irritably as he moved away from Athena's grip, internally putting back his wall over his emotions, and impatient to get to the point of this meeting.

"You have made great strides forward toward a bright future for your people, such as the joint military command of the Pallas of Athena. Which, I appreciate the tribute to me even if indirectly and unintentional," Athena said grinning, and then continued before Stryker responded.

"I told you before about the cycle of war, death and rebirth that has followed your people. It happened on Kobol: creating the Cylons that became the thirteenth tribe and the war between the tribes that shifted toward fighting the Cylons. Then the thirteenth tribe which created mechanical Cylons like they had originally started out as, and before long a machine uprising and rebellion that led to their mutual destruction. The First Cylon war of the Twelve United Colonies of Kobol, which the colonies were lucky to have survived, and a war which only ended when survivors of the thirteenth tribe had arrived to make an offer to the centurions to end the war. Even then, there was merely a respite in the fighting because no permanent peace was dictated. On and on, the cycle has continued, and if your people are not careful it will happen again. Remember the words of warning my kind gave to yours; all this has happened before and it will happen again," Athena said grievously.

"Surely the cycle will end when the war is over? When all the Cylons are eliminated?" Admiral Stryker asked, sure that this was the one solution that could work.

"No Admiral Stryker, it isn't so simple as that. If the Cylons all die, your kind will eventually make them again generations from now, after your people have forgotten the horrors associated with the Cylons. All the lessons you've had to adapt to, all the sacrifices made; it will have all been made worthless," Athena said sharply.

Admiral Stryker stared in shock at Athena, unable to come to grips with this information.

"Your only hope is to do things differently. Your act in allowing and encouraging the alliance and empowering a joint military force on the Pallas of Athens was a step in the right direction. Very soon the next most crucial decision will be upon you, and if you handle it incorrectly; your world will burn. Everything up to this point will have been rendered null and the cycle will simply renew itself again," Athena said.

"I won't let that happen!" Admiral Stryker said determinedly.

"Time will tell Admiral. Make the right choice and your people will rise further than ever before. Fail…" Athena said, drifting off to leave the conclusion apparent.

A wall of light blinded Admiral Stryker momentarily and then Athena was gone, leaving Admiral Stryker alone in darkness.

He would have much to ponder and act upon when he awoke.

**Day 669 Since the Fall**

**0800 hours**

**Avalon Capital City, News Headquarters**

"Welcome back to Channel One News," reporter Henry Wallace said as the news cameras focused on him and his guest.

"Back with us is Quorum member Tom Zarek. Tom, we've discussed several things this past hour, and you've been outspoken on recent occasions. Care to shed light on all this for viewers just tuning in?" Henry Wallace asked.

"Of course Henry, and may I say it is good to be here with you," Tom Zarek said with a charming smile, "For those just tuning in, we've been discussing recent affairs with the military, the courts, and the Cylons. Now, I've come out to the media before, but I'm putting my foot down now. It is time to start taking action while we still can."

"In recent times, public opinion has been unsteady and unsure over the military's change in policy for the draft and recruiting personnel into the armed forces. The Admiralty made it clear that the minimum age has been set to 15 years of age rather than the standard age 18, lower than even it was in the first Cylon war! Moreover, younger citizens, children really, have been allowed to start training under the military, even joining on the newest ships for these 'Super Carriers' we've heard about. What are your thoughts Mr. Zarek?" Henry Wallace asked.

"I believe it is atrocious that the military is going as far as bringing in children to where they could end up at the front line of combat. This is also a strange time for a draft following the Admiralty's mission to Picon which resulted in a massive loss of military force for the Cylons. Moreover, the Cylons will find it difficult to even find us here at Avalon. So why the draft? What aren't we being told by the military? That's my line of thought on the matter," Tom Zarek said, smirking slightly.

"We do know that it appears the military has created a large build-up of the armed forces. Granted the fleet has seen massive losses of their own against the Cylons and is a mere fraction of its former glory," Henry Wallace said, eyes scrunching together in confusion, unsure how to feel about this.

"To be sure, we need the military to be at top strength in case the Cylons find us here. We should be building up the armed forces. Still, I've taken a look at the plans for military build-up, and it's clear that the military's construction efforts take vast precedence over the civilians. We still haven't even built proper cities and other standards for colonial society! We've barely created enough housing for everyone, with a large number of apartment complexes to squeeze as many people in as few buildings as possible," Tom Zarek said with a note of protest in his voice, looking appealingly into the camera.

"Surely the military isn't putting their needs above those of the people? We haven't even seen the Cylons in so many months after all!" Henry Wallace said in alarm.

"I'm afraid it would seem to be the case. A pity that there is such leadership over the military and even among the civilian government that seems to be allowing this happen. Perhaps the military is not subservient to the civilian government anymore, not as it should be, as it has long been in colonial history," Tom Zarek said, a note of sadness and regret in his voice.

"Moving onto that chain of thought, there's been recent public unrest over the issue of changes in the court system. There seems to be a thought that Admiral Stryker was personally responsible for these controversial changes?" Henry Wallace said uncertainly.

"I can say with certainty that the Fleet Admiral was behind these changes which were focused on removing corruption and crime in society. While idealistic and good, it also set in place a harsh system of judgement that seemed far less tolerant than normal colonial democracy," Tom Zarek said.

"It certainly took the sails out of the politicians getting by doing nothing while in power," Henry Wallace said jokingly, trying to lighten the mood.

"However, just look at what happened to Admiral Cain! Set in the desert with a pittance of supplies and practically left to die, and never receiving a fair trial that is due to her as any other colonial citizen! Not to mention that numerous former colonial prisoners and criminals of society were simply pushed into slave labor, forced to work without pay and never receiving a fair judgement as per colonial law. Where was their trial, their sentencing and fair treatment? I have to wonder, should all colonial citizens fear the government and Admiralty? Simply do something they do not like, one toe out of line, and anyone could be press ganged into service, committing hard labor without seeing benefit to themselves or receive a legal and fair trial for their supposed crimes? Where are the ideals that made our colonial society great? Has it all gone to the wayside?" Tom Zarek said in outrage.

Henry Wallace stayed silent at that, mouth slightly ajar, unsure how to respond.

"Then finally the Coup de grâce - the alliance with the Cylons! Giving them their own warship to command and be a part of the military; they who we've been fighting against for years, who murdered our men, our women, and our children in the Cylon holocaust against the colonies! Have we forgotten our true enemy? What kind of leadership entreats with humanity's sworn enemies, taking in mass murderers and abominations against nature and not only treating them like colonials but giving them weapons of mass destruction that they could easily use against us! I call upon my fellow fair-minded colonial citizens to truly think about all these things, and wonder if our society's current leaders are up to the task of not only defending us, but reinstituting the colonial society we all know and love," Tom Zarek said.

**Battlestar Atlantis, Admiral's Quarters**

Admiral Stryker turned off the news broadcast on his television, throwing the remote against the wall in anger.

"This will spiral out of control quickly Mark," Admiral Thorn said warningly.

"I should've removed Zarek from the equation when he first arrived! Now it's too late," Admiral Stryker said, snarling in anger.

"If you try to silence him you'll only legitimize what he's saying. At this point focusing on Zarek will only hurt us. Better to focus on those he is trying to reach: the people," Admiral Thorn said sagely.

"Bah!" Admiral Stryker said, leaning back in his chair and trying to relax.

"It goes without saying that we need to keep this recent incident out of the news," Admiral Stryker said more calmly after a moment, picking up a file from his desk.

"I agree. Knowledge that Gunstar Nymeria was lost due to the antimatter reactor overloading would not be good for the military, it would simply be more munition against us. The fact is simply that the Gunstar was partially complete and had made a routine test of the engines when a viper squadron was on a test flight with rookies and a chain reaction of explosions occurred after one of the fighters veered into Nymeria's path and hit the ship in exactly the wrong spot. It was unforeseeable at the time and not something that will happen again, but the media will turn this on its head until it's treated as fact that the massive military build-up is dangerous based on what happened," Admiral Thorn said.

"Not to say I told you so, but I did warn you about using experimental technology," Admiral Stryker said.

"Shipyard personnel and R&D have confirmed that there was nothing wrong with the new reactor. The accident was solely caused by the fact that the ship hadn't installed its armor package yet, so the viper rammed right through the ship on impact, and the chain of explosions that resulted affected the highly volatile system for the antimatter reactor. As is, we were lucky no one else was in the area where the incident occurred just outside of this system; the explosion was so massive that the viper squadron nearby was practically miraculous in its survival," Admiral Thorn said.

"Perhaps it wasn't the equipment's fault, but you can't deny that this shows that I was right to mistrust this technology; if mishandled or prodded in just the wrong way we could lose not only the ship using the reactor but perhaps an entire Battlegroup!" Admiral Stryker said.

"Safety measures will be put in place in the future Mark. This won't happen again," Admiral Thorn said firmly, unwilling to compromise with the knowledge that the technology was desperately necessary.

Admiral Stryker glared at Admiral Thorn for several long seconds before looking away.

"Back to Zarek. I think we need to take measures to prepare for mutiny," Admiral Thorn said.

"What?!" Admiral Stryker exclaimed, sitting up straighter.

"I think it's clear that Zarek is planning an uprising against the leadership in power, using his charisma to inspire rebellion like back in the colonies. He knows he can't enforce real change or claim power that he seems to want as simply the Sagittarian Quorum delegate, unless he takes down the government and military leadership," Admiral Thorn said.

"Putting himself in power no doubt," Admiral Stryker summarized.

"Exactly," Admiral Thorn said.

"The problem is who do we trust? It seems like a fair number of the military is leaning towards Zarek's point of view these days, based on the vast distaste towards the alliance with the Cylons," Admiral Stryker said worriedly.

"We'll have to do the same as Zarek most likely is; quietly poll members of the military for which side they'll be on. As much as so many of our people hate the Cylons, there's just as many who would never betray the uniform," Admiral Thorn said.

"Assuming we can manage our own house, what about the government? They'll be targeted and probably taken off guard if it comes to that," Admiral Stryker said.

"Hopefully Roslin has come to the same conclusion. She does not seem like a foolish or blind politician, like others I can think of. Chances are she sees the way things are turning, with her own experience with Zarek with the Galactica fleet making it clear, I would hope, that he is not to be trusted," Admiral Thorn said.

"We'll speak with her soon, and coordinate our efforts to ensure Zarek fails then," Admiral Stryker said firmly, making his decision.

"Yes sir," Admiral Thorn said, nodding.

**Day 674 Since the Fall**

**Cylon Staging Area**

A baseship slowly maneuvered past the six baseships positioned around the Cylon resurrection hub. The baseship had jumped in assumed formation so as not to look out of place, strategically turning to hide its damage from the visual range and sensors of the other Cylon forces. After almost two months of repair work, the baseship was in working order and had been patched up as best as could be done to blend in more easily, but it was far from pristine.

Slowly, dozens of raiders launched from the baseship and spread out in a standard picket formation like the rest of the Cylon fleet, though in higher volume. Moments later as the baseship continued closing on its target, over thirty heavy raiders launched and were joined in formation by the raiders, quickly maneuvering toward the Cylon fleet as they dropped all signs of pretense.

"NOW!" Natalie Six ordered savagely, all but screaming in battle rage.

As one, the Cylon forces under her command complied, unleashing streams of missiles at the Resurrection hub and its guarding baseships.

Caught off guard, the Cylon fleet was slow to respond. Explosions littered space as numerous missiles detonated. Two furthermost baseships from the hub were engulfed in nuclear flames, burning bright as a star as they blew up into spreading debris launching each and every which way.

The dozens of raiders from the rebel baseship fired on the other baseships with their cannons and launched missiles, inciting large explosions across the ships as they impacted. The baseships began firing back, destroying few of the raiders as they outmaneuvered the missiles being launched which represented the majority of the baseships offensive/defensive firepower.

The heavy raiders targeted the other enemy raiders, firing on them with their superior fire power, ripping them apart one by one. Moreover, they took advantage of the sluggishness of the raiders, the raiders having lost touch with their instincts and their full capabilities following their lobotomy.

The rebel baseship continued launching missiles and momentarily nukes, all targeting the resurrection hub.

Missiles destroy a node at the top of the Hub, taking out its FTL drive.

"They're trying to destroy the hub," a Cavil aboard the Cylon fleet said in shock, "it'll be mass murder! All death would become permanent for Cylons!"

Defenseless, the resurrection hub could do nothing as several warheads impacted across her large hull; detonating in a fiery plume that started a chain reaction. In moments the large ship exploded, a large ball of fire expanding outward from the ship that instantly incinerated everything in its path – consuming the three nearest baseships and nearby fighter forces.

Missile salvos impacted on the rebel baseship, dealing light damage but shaking the ship and the occupants – several of whom were thrown sharply against the wall with enough force to end their lives.

The remaining fighters of the rebel Cylons grouped together, firing on the enemy raiders and destroying them in teams. With few losses, the rebel raiders and heavy raiders ripped the few enemy raiders apart.

The rebel baseship closed distance to the remaining enemy baseship, ripple firing missiles at the baseship that had sustained damage in the hub's explosion and from previous weapons impacts. With its landing bays all but destroyed, no more raiders could be launched from the baseship, within moments the rebel raider force swarmed around the baseship.

"You've condemned us all to extinction Six," Cavil said over the wireless communications to the rebel baseship, after having found out the FTL was not functional.

"You decided your fate the moment you betrayed us. None of us had ever intended to destroy the Cylon unity forces, but you lured us in and then massacred our baseships carrying all the twos, threes, sixes, and eights; you intended for all of us to die after ensuring no resurrection ships were nearby. You started this Cavil. It is only fair that the tables are turned, to tip the scales given the number of my sisters you gave the final death to. Now no Cylon can resurrect," Natalie Six said.

"So you'll let the entire Cylon race die out for petty revenge?" Cavil asked.

"We can live without resurrection Cavil. Unlike you, we can and will go to the humans and solve our problems with procreation. Your brothers with the rest of the Cylon 'unity' fleet will either die in battle now that resurrection is gone, or they'll die old men incapable of finding a solution to continue their line of the species. You however can go straight to hell now," Natalie Six said cruelly.

The raiders began firing on the enemy baseship in strafing runs, unleashing streams of cannon fire and their missiles against the weakened ship. The rebel baseship fired salvoes of missiles and nukes as well.

A pittance of missiles by comparison came out of the enemy baseship, destroying a handful of raiders and damaging the rebel baseship.

Missile after missile detonated against the enemy baseship, ripping it apart and tearing huge chunks of the ship's armor and hull away from the ship. The six outreaching spires composing the ship's composition pattern of akin to a star were sheared away from the baseship in mighty explosions. Fiery explosions reigned supreme within the baseship, burning alive the occupying human Cylons who died slow, painful deaths, screaming until the end.

Cavil's curses were cut off only after several nukes impacting on the weak baseship consumed the ship in a massive explosion, a huge BOOM collecting force due to the low pressure inside and imploding. The blast wave increased, unleashing fiery pieces of debris transformed into shrapnel that destroyed raiders not quick enough to dodge and retreat to safety.

The rebel baseship quickly maneuvered to safety, it's small craft returning aboard posthaste.

Once all of her fighters were aboard and all systems were green, the rebel baseship jumped away from the system, leaving before Cylon forces came to the Resurrection hub's location.

**Day 675 Since the Fall**

**Cylon Fleet**

Word quickly reached the Cylon fleet of the Cylon rebels destruction of the Resurrection hub. With no vipers apparent at the battle site, they were the logical culprits, despite the Cylons previously strong belief in their destruction.

The ones went into a rage and refused to be soothed even as their dutiful subordinates the fives tried their damnedest, continuing to look to the ones for a plan of action.

That left the fours. The crafty, highly logic based Cylons who composed the Cylon race's doctors and scientists.

**Cylon Baseship, located in hall corridor not kept under surveillance**

"We must go at once!" a number four known as Rodney said forcefully.

"The facts are not all in," a number four replied fearfully, adamant that they wait and see for more continued developments before making a decision.

"The facts are clear. The ones destroyed the majority of the twos, threes, sixes, and eights in a surprise attack that we didn't even know about until it was already over. All of the females in our race are dead or fleeing with the rebels, and with the resurrection hub gone our species faces the final death and extinction if we stay to our current course," a number four known as Galileo said.

"But we cannot get the ones and fives to see reason! They will never turn away from war with the humans," a number four replied dishearteningly.

"Perhaps we shouldn't, there's no sign that the humans won't kill us all. It's the reason we've continued this war and had been chasing all the colonial survivors," another number four interjected.

"That fear will only get us killed. The facts are before us: continue war against the humans with the ones and fives and face mutual destruction at best, or find the rebel Cylons and perhaps make peace and maybe find a way to survive," Galileo Four said determinedly.

"How can that lead to our line and our overall race surviving?" Rodney Four asked.

"The Final Five are with the humans. As is the only living hybrid of Human-Cylon interaction, who may very well be the key to our species' procreation capabilities. Reuniting with the Twos, Threes, Sixes, and Eights gives us strength in numbers and common cause in seeking survival," Alfred Four said, the realization dawning on him as he said it.

"Logic dictates our course of action as it ever does. All in favor?" Galileo Four asked.

The collective Fours slowly started agreeing, nodding and saying yea, until the Four line had complete agreement.

"Then we must also damage the ones and fives war machines so we can make our escape safely," Charles Four deduced.

"It is the only way we can ensure our plan for survival," a number Four said in agreement.

"We cannot take any of the baseships either. Cavil's had the centurions under his personal command and placed a heavy guard on the baseships ever since the Cylon rebellion," another number Four said.

"The paranoid old fool hasn't trusted anyone since then, if he ever truly did to begin with," Alfred Four said bitterly.

"Perhaps rightly so considering what we're about to do," Rodney Four said.

The Fours made noises of agreement and nodded in reply.

"Then we take the Heavy Raiders and use their munitions for our plan," Galileo Four reasoned.

"Risky," a number Four said.

"But necessary," Alfred Four concluded.

"We should also attempt to take some Centurions with us. A show of goodwill to ensure our sisters and the Twos agree to take us in, if we arrive with Centurions without their inhibitors, to show we're following the same path as the others," Charles Four advised.

"Your logic is sound. However, Cavil's got most of the Centurions on alert and slowly been transferring complete command to the ones, which the fives don't care much about, but it's simply another sign of his growing paranoia. The centurions are lost to us," Rodney Four said.

"Most of the centurions perhaps. Most does not mean all of them however," Galileo Four said, grinning.

"Perhaps," a number Four interjected, conceding to his brother's point.

"Then we are agreed on what to do?" Charles Four asked.

The Fours made noises of agreement and nodded in reply, some more enthusiastically than they had been before now that their line finally had a sensible plan of action, something they hadn't truly had in too long.

"No point in delaying then, every second counts if we want to catch up with the others," Galileo Four said.

"Agreed," Charles Four said.

The other Fours agreed verbally or nodded in assent.

With that, the Fours turned and left to begin carrying out their plan.

**Several hours later**

Confusion and mayhem reigned supreme in the Cylon fleet.

Missiles and cannon fire from dozens upon dozens of Heavy Raiders weaving throughout the fleet impacted and began damaging various baseships and support ships in the Cylon fleet. A few lightly armored support ships were destroyed with large explosions, spreading debris that damaged other ships in the fleet.

Several baseships were heavily damaged as munitions wired to blow aboard detonated remotely.

Raiders controlled by the Cylon unity forces lead by Cavil started firing back at the Heavy raiders, destroying a number of them as the Heavy raiders maintained their focus on damaging the Cylon capital ships before turning to them. Explosions consuming numerous fighters lit up space as the two sides fought fiercely. Then the Heavy Raiders turned away, outdistancing the raiders momentarily.

The main engine aboard the dreadstar imploded as charges attached detonated, destroying the means of power for the massive ship that would take a long time to replace. Several of the newest ships in the fleet were targeted with pre-planned explosions inside going off and a few missiles launched from the Heavy Raiders causing damage aboard the ships.

The Heavy Raiders then began jumping out before the enemy raiders could reacquire them, leaving chaos in their wake and regrouping on the other side. These Heavy Raiders would continue onward until they found the Cylon rebels. After heated debates the rebels would take them in, accepting their help that was necessary to get their heavily damaged ship up and running again.

**Cylon Command Baseship**

Several human Cylons of the one and five models, and some Fours that had remained behind, were strewn about the command center of the baseship, blood pooling around their charred or speared through bodies that resulted from the damage to the ship's interior. Many centurions lay in pieces or had heavy damage to their mechanical body's structure, missing an arm or such.

"This betrayal will never be forgotten!" one of the Cavils raged, joined in similar sentiment by his brothers aboard.

The Fives aboard, several nursing wounds of their own, quickly replied or nodded in assent, some fearfully so as they looked on at the manic look in the eyes of the Cavils.

"We will find them, and the humans, and finish this," Jack Cavil said hatefully, gripping the command table tightly.


	29. 4x04 Rebels

**Rebels**

**Six months later…**

**Avalon System, Eternity Station**

Fleet Admiral Stryker watched from the observation deck as two new Battlestars and several firestars passed in formation on slow flyby near the Eternity. Just days before those ships had been commissioned into the fleet. Many more were under construction as part of the fleet rebuild program.

Stryker was pleased; although they had done a tremendous job so far, it was not over yet. There was a lot to be done, and he knew it wouldn't be easy. Aside from Caprica City, several other sites had been chosen for new cities that would be named after famous cities from the colonies, and they were already under construction by combined efforts from both civilians and the military.

President Roslin and the quorum have continued to be a pain in the ass; most of them still believed that Stryker's plan for fleet buildup was pointless or excessive. Many in the quorum believed that the Cylons couldn't find them, but Stryker and the rest of military command knew better. Even if the Cylons were not a threat however, then the Harvesters are. Though convincing the civilian government of that when they hadn't seen the Harvesters and were mostly willing to laugh off reports the Admiralty had presented as fact, such as their history, even that reason for the military buildup was derided. Still, the Cylons would come: he could feel it. Wherever they are, they'll be looking for the last of the colonials to finish what they started and they would let nothing get in their way. Eventually they will find Avalon: he'd known this all along and had been preparing for this eventuality from the very beginning, the civilian government be damned if they refuse to see reason until the Cylons show up and start throwing nukes up their ass. Sooner or later the attack will come and when this happens, he must ensure that the Colonial fleet wins no matter the cost. The military buildup will be forced through no matter the backlash from the government and the growing naysayers that Tom Zarek seems to be growing more and more in control of.

Admiral Thorn, who had grown into being like a mentor to him, and a good friend besides, had advised Stryker wisely over this year: helping him with everything. His last advice was to find a woman, get married and have a family. Stryker's first response had been that he had too much to do and that didn't have time to look for and handle a marriage, and a family. Admiral Thorn was obstinate and stubborn in getting him to change his mind however.

"Do not throw your life and everything you have into just your work," Admiral Thorn told him, "I lost my wife and my children in the Cylon attack. Every person in the military lost someone; husbands, wives, children, brothers, sisters, parents. Do not let work get in your way; find yourself someone and get a family. You are smart and a brave man. You are still young and you have time still, and even with a few million people on the colony: we could use all the children we can get to repopulate our society with the next generation. Besides, as Fleet Admiral you have other Admirals, Commanders, and other officers to delegate, and rely on, to get work done."

Of course Thorn was right; he had always been alone since the Cylon attack, sitting and stewing in his office like an old man. Even his sister who was a ship Commander had a boyfriend, and no doubt it would not be long before the two of them married.

It didn't take long for Stryker to find the woman of his dreams. He found her after he went to one of Eternity's bars. At first everyone saluted him and treated him as a commanding officer, acting uneasily around him, but after a while they started relaxing around him and got used to his presence; they started to ignore him and began treating him like anyone else. Yes the shipyard's bar was no place for the Fleet Admiral, but he was human like everyone else; he could have his private time when not on duty. He found his love soon enough; she was playing a piano, one of several old ones that survived.

After an introduction and a chat, they slowly got closer. She was uncomfortable at the beginning because of his rank, and since she was 'just' one of the engineers working at keeping Eternity's engines running. At any glance she was low in military ranking, but in reality she was not even military. Liz had worked on Eternity since its launch from the colonies, as part of the civilians with necessary skills who were integrated into the ship's crew. It didn't take long before the two of them became more intimately involved. Liz was simply a good person, she didn't care about his rank, and she cared only for him as a person. She was two years younger than Stryker. Liz had lost her fiancé during the attack, as well as both of her brothers and all of her family. She was alone. She didn't get out much, except to the bar and back to work, and had previously had a small problem with alcohol during the first few months following the Cylon attack. It was normal, something many others had been doing; she had lost everything and she didn't care – she had just wanted to stop feeling her pain and loss. But after meeting Stryker, her life changed and she finally find someone to love and to care for. Despite the fact that person cared for every other human survivor, and helped bring them where they are now, so far away from Cryannus.

Stryker stood still, looking on at the ships that passed by and he smiled. For the first time he believed that they had a future. He had Liz now, not only his job. Although his job was one of the most important, he still needed to be human first; at the very least to keep him sane and happy, and to renew his sense of hope.

"I will never allow anyone to hurt Liz or anyone on Avalon," Admiral Stryker said quietly, and looked away from the ships to Avalon which glowed in the distance.

…..

**Somewhere near Avalon system**

A badly damaged Cylon basestar cruised slowly in the darkness of space, heavy damage apparent from the outside of the ship.

"The ship is in very bad shape Natalie. It took us six months to cross the distance that would usually take us two or three months. And how can you be sure that the colonial's colony is here somewhere?" one of the other number Sixes in the room asked.

"Because I know. I downloaded the data from Cavil's ship before I left it. One more jump and we will be within range of the colonials, even if we don't know their system's exact coordinates; we know they're close to here, and likely keeping track of the route to their colony - looking for signs of Cylon pursuit," Natalie Six said.

"Let's say that our ship survives another trip, what stops the Colonials, if they are in that system, from firing on us?" the only number Four in the room asked.

"Immediately as we jump we will broadcast our surrender. It's a risk, I know, but it's all we have. We can't go back and all of our resources are almost spent which means this last jump is our last hope or our doom. Whatever happens, it is our destiny and we can't run from it any longer," Natalie Six said.

"The ship is ready to jump," another number Six said shortly after she entered the bridge.

"Set coordinates and prepare to jump on my command," Natalie replied.

The other number six nodded, but gave a warning, "Target location has been entered, but we may miss it. There's some problems with the jump coordinates. "

"Never mind, just jump," Natalie Six said impatiently.

The baseship disappeared. Moments later, it appeared at the outskirts of the Avalon system, right in front of Warstar Argona.

**Warstar Argona C.I.C. **

"Admiral, a Cylon basestar just jumped in," the officer of the watch reported.

"Prepare all guns, fire on my mark," Admiral Thompson ordered quickly, heart pounding heavily in his chest and his adrenaline running.

"Sir, we are getting a message from the basestar. They are surrendering! They wish to speak with Admiral Stryker, they said it's urgent," the communications officer said.

Admiral Thompson was puzzled by this; he didn't intent to fall into some kind of Cylon trap, "Stand down. Weapons officer; if they make any move blast them to hell. Communications, send a message telling them to stand down and prepare to be boarded, after that inform command about this."

"Aye sir," the communications officer said.

**Cylon Basestar**

The Cylons watched in horror as they appeared right in front of a massive colonial warship. They recognized it as the Andraste class warstar Argona. Two Battlestars, the Titan and Polaris, and several Gunstars of an unknown type escorted the massive warship, which was scary enough on its own.

They watched as the massive cannons of Argona moved into combat position, and swarms of Vipers and Raptors were launched from all ships. But none of the ships fired; that was some relief.

"There is a message incoming," a number eight said, "Stand down and prepare to be boarded."

"What should we do?" one of the number sixes asked.

"We comply," Natalie Six said shortly.

**Eternity**

**Admiral Stryker's private room**

Stryker kissed Liz with passion, touching her lips and cheeks. He'd almost forgotten that he had feelings after so long in command, never having time for himself.

He was about to kiss Liz again when his phone rang. He looked at the desk with fury, "Oh for frak's sake, what now."

"Maybe it's something important," Liz said patiently.

The phone continued to ring, forcing Stryker to get out of bed and take the call, grabbing the phone to shut up the incessant ringing.

"Admiral Stryker here?" Admiral Stryker said with irritation clear in his voice.

"Marcus I am sorry for bothering you, but your presence is needed in Olympia's Command center," Admiral Thorn said.

_Admiral Thorn sounds very serious_ Admiral Stryker thought to himself.

"I am on my way," Admiral Stryker said, hanging up the phone.

"Darling sorry, but something important came up, I must go and look into it," Admiral Stryker said and began starting to get his clothes on.

Minutes later after getting himself together, he kissed Liz and exited the room. Ten minutes later he was already in the fleet command center.

Eternity had become the temporary fleet command center now that Olympia was being reconfigured, elongated, and integrated into the new Heavy Construction Red Horse Shipyard. With the Arcadians assistance, the shipyard would be completed within a few more months. The command quarters that had been used on Olympia would soon enough be completed on the burgeoning shipyard, the soon to be jewel of the fleet when it was completed, and then fleet command would relocate there. R & D was likewise in a state of flux, receiving new and larger quarters aboard the new shipyard – the scientists there had been greatly excited by having more room and technology to work on their various projects more efficiently. It was all Stryker and Thorn could do to keep them quiet through the process.

Stryker entered Olympia's C.I.C. He was curious and angry at the same time. It was the first time in a week that he'd had time for himself and Liz, and now it was interrupted.

"I am sorry for interrupting your free time Admiral, but you need to see this," Admiral Thorn said, pointing to one of the large monitors above the C.I.C.'s plot table.

A forward mounted camera on board Argona showed the badly damaged Cylon basestar.

"Where the hell did that basestar come from?" Admiral Stryker asked.

"We don't know, but the Cylons on board want to talk with you. They said it's an urgent matter. Our marines have already boarded the ship. They secured every meter of it. In total there were 2700 of the human form Cylons, mainly composed of number fours, and around eight hundred centurions. I called in extra marine forces from the fleet so we could adequately guard such a large number. Strange enough, none of them was aggressive when our forces came in, they just opened the doors and waited," Admiral Thorn said.

"That's odd," Admiral Stryker remarked.

"Indeed, and that's not all. One of the Cylon model number Sixes, Natalie, appears to be their leader. She said that she explicitly needed to speak with you and with colonial high command. She claims that an attack from the rest of the Cylon forces is imminent and that they know the approximate location of Avalon," Admiral Thorn said.

"Blast," Admiral Stryker said, then turned to one of the lieutenants in C.I.C., "Lieutenant I want my Raptor to be ready in ten minutes."

"Yes Admiral," the Lieutenant replied and turned to relay the Admiral's orders.

"Admiral Thorn, contact Argona, I will meet this Natalie there," Admiral Stryker said.

"Sure, but is that wise? She may attack you. This could be a trap," Admiral Thorn said worriedly.

"I know, but don't worry; if she wants to talk then we will talk," Admiral Stryker said confidently.

**45 minutes later…**

**Warstar Argona Conference room**

The conference room on board Argona was full of guards. There were guards everywhere. Although some would say it was overkill having so many, it is not every day that the Fleet Admiral visits the ship, especially in the presence of an enemy.

Natalie Six was brought to the room and kept under heavy guard when Admiral Stryker finally entered the room.

Admiral Stryker sat behind the main table and asked, "You wanted to speak with me?"

"Yes Admiral we did," Natalie Six replied and continued, "I know that you do not have any reason to trust us, but we did come in peace, and we've come here to warn you."

"Warn me about what?" Admiral Stryker asked.

"To explain I need to start from the beginning," She said, and paused to see if Admiral will allow her to tell her story.

"Make it fast," Admiral Stryker said warningly, impatient to get to the bottom of this situation.

"Seven months ago, a Cylon civil war started. At first it was quiet. It started with the death of John Cavil, the number one that orchestrated the attack on the twelve colonies. But it didn't start because of him; it started because the ones, fours, and fives crossed the line. We; the twos, sixes and eights, know that with John Cavil's death, his brother who was also a model one, Jack Cavil, will take over. And with that he will lead the entire Cylon race to its extinction.

The loss of the Colony means that we cannot grow new hybrids to pilot our ships. They serve as the central nervous system for our baseships. Jack executed John because of his failure to catch Galactica and because the entire attack on the twelve colonies was one big mistake. In Jack's eyes too many of your ships survived and you organized effective resistance which cost us too many of our ships.

We realized in time that what we had done to you was a mistake, it was never supposed to happen, we shouldn't have gone along with it. But most of us were blind, we believed in the number ones; believing that because they were the oldest of us, they were the most experienced. We were wrong. I must admit Admiral, many of us even enjoyed the destruction of the twelve colonies, believing that because you humans were not perfect, your nature would eventually destroy you; many of us believed it was god's will to put you out of your misery. Others believed that in order for our race to come into its own as humanity's children, our parents, the twelve colonies, had to die.

We made a mistake. If we had truly looked at the big picture, it would've been clear that you would never attack, or invade Cylon space. You were too occupied with your own problems and despite the hatred between our races; many of your people are honorable and would not have gone along with being the instigator of a renewed war with the Cylons.

However, the ones, threes, and fours saw the Battlestar Valkyrie incursion as the final straw. If you would send one fighter to cross our border, next time it could be an entire squadron; a prelude to invasion. For years before this, those number ones had been creating a plan of attacking you and used this incident to present their most updated plan; using spies to encourage the colonial fleet's disarmament, and hacking your navigation programs – specifically through creating and control the new CNP program.

But after the attack, we began to realize we had made a mistake. A number of our infiltrators had started making attachments with colonials and had started questioning our ways and whether humanity should die or not. Making matters worse in our society, the number one models were like dictators; ruthless, sarcastic and arrogant. But we couldn't do anything.

Then, Jack started lobotomizing the raiders once they refused to fight after encountering the final five Cylons in your fleet, we took action. We rallied all the members of our models and loyal Centurions that we could free from Cavil's control, and we fought back. We thought we could gather those who believed like we did and after giving the rest of the Cylon unity a chance to see reason, we would've left to find you and reunite with the final five. However, Cavil took advantage of our good will, using a peaceful meeting to find our fleet and lull is into a sense of security, before he attacked us in an all-out massacre. The resurrection ships were out of range as per his plan, and even if we'd resurrected we would've been boxed or killed there anyway. His fleet laid waste to our forces, mercilessly. One baseship of our forces survived, heavily damaged and falling apart as it is, and in an act of vengeance; we destroyed the last of resurrection ships while they were docked aboard the last resurrection hub.

Now, what you need to know is that Cavil knows approximately where your colony is. And at this very moment he is building his forces and will eventually attack you. He cannot build new baseships without the capability to produce more hybrids, but he built a new class of ships called the Adonis class that does not need hybrids and which is more heavily armed and armored in order to go toe to toe with your Battlestars.

He already has a dozen of them, if not more. Together with every surviving first war baseship and every remaining modern baseship and support ship, and finally his Dreadstar, he will attack; once he feels his fleet is ready. The Fours joined our forces, finally seeing reason, and in their escape they managed to disable many of his ships - and that is why he he's been delayed and hasn't attacked you yet. It would take him several months to recover, and by now I believe most of his fleet to be operational. He will be bringing his fleet to your location shortly, and continue readying his forces until he arrives," Natalie Six said.

"You said he knows where Avalon is, how so, how did he know?" Admiral Stryker asked.

"The patrolstar that you destroyed was a ruse. The whole time of your trip to your colony, you were shadowed by a baseship from an even longer distance. Even now, that baseship is somewhere close; I believe within one jump range. We also know of the other race that has ships in this sector of space. Although we don't know much as you do; we know that they are not organic," Natalie Six said.

"How did you find out about that?" Admiral Stryker asked.

"The same baseship that was spying on you had a small encounter with what had appeared to be unknown ships. It was contact from afar, our brothers and sisters on board that ship didn't dare to make contact while they were all alone in this sector of space," Natalie Six said.

"Hmm. One might think Cavil would give up his quest to destroy us, knowing that there's another enemy lurking just out of sight here," Admiral Stryker mused.

"Cavil doesn't care. He's coming to finish things personally. Nothing will get in his way, and experience has shown that logic is not truly his strong point," Natalie Six said.

Admiral Stryker chuckled slightly, then sighed loudly as he considered the situation. _Frak if I want to be the one to have to deal with this madness_. Admiral Stryker shook his head trying to focus away from unhelpful thoughts.

"Admiral, we destroyed your homes once; we won't do that again, and we did not come here to see your destruction become a reality but to help you, and reunite with our brothers and sisters already with your people. All we ask is to be given asylum. We will give you the full details of Cavil's fleet, the weaponry of his ships; we would give you everything we have, in exchange for a safe place to live out the rest of our days. And not in a cage, of course," Natalie Six said.

Admiral was confused by all of this, but they were not the first Cylons that changed sides, there were more that worked and lived on Avalon. Most people disliked them, but then again they'd done lots for Avalon so far and they deserved to live free on it no matter what they had done in the past.

"I will speak with the rest of military command and with the civilian government about this. I must ask however, will your group of Cylons fight with us? It will go a long way toward approving your request if the answer is yes, because if not then your people would basically be sitting pretty, doing nothing really, while our people fight, and bleed, to protect Avalon, to protect you, from the Cylons and, as you now know - from this other race known as the Harvesters," Admiral Stryker said.

"I understand Admiral. I will not see any of my people used as fodder in protecting Avalon, however we want to live free, and moreover to make up for all our sins and to seek a true peace with your people on equal terms. We want a true unity, and nothing else will truly be long lasting, which is what is needed unless we're going to just pick up and leave – with no safe destination among these stars, where these 'Harvesters' apparently are. So of course, we will fight with you, to protect ourselves as much as you," Natalie Six said fiercely.

Admiral Stryker eyed Natalie cautiously, "I will bring this before colonial fleet command and the government then. I will propose that your forces be integrated like the other Cylons that have joined with our people, in a fair alliance. Those among you willing to fight will be stationed aboard the Pallas of Athens, the captured baseship under joint Cylon/colonial control."

"Very well," Natalie Six said approvingly, then paused in confusion, "what about our baseship here?"

"Your people and useful materials will be offloaded onto Argona under armed guard, for now, and taken safely to Avalon while we process integrating your forces into the colonial fleet. Your baseship will be destroyed, never to see Avalon. I will not have such Cylon technology, uncontrollable by colonial hands and dangerous in any case, anywhere near Avalon," Admiral Stryker said sharply.

"But you have your own baseship?" Natalie Six said, confused and perplexed.

"That baseship is from the time of the first Cylon war; it was one of the original design by colonial hands, and could be piloted by colonial hands alone if need be. There is no organic technology or anything my people can't keep under control. I am uncomfortable enough with such technology, as are most others – which if I even suggested keeping such technology… The alliance with the Cylons would crumble. Moreover, having such technology could never be trusted – being at war with the Cylons, it's easy to imagine having such a thing as dangerous and having the potential to be used against us. Nothing you can say on the matter will change my mind, or any other colonials. It just is the way it is," Admiral Stryker said.

"This is preposterous Admiral. However, it seems a moot point given the damage on the baseship. She'll never jump again without serious modifications, and the hybrid herself stopped functioning. We'll do as you suggest," Natalie Six said.

"Then let's get underway. There is much to be done," Admiral Stryker said.

"Yes…" Natalie Six said, hesitating and then added, "sir."

Admiral Stryker nodded and left the room. Natalie didn't know what would happen next; she believed that what she did was right, after all she and the rest of her fellow Cylons would have died if they hadn't left. Sooner or later Cavil would've started his purge of the Cylon unity, destroying all rebellion and anyone who would get in the way of what he wanted.

Within a few hours the Cylons and their technology that was deemed necessary, including the dozens of Heavy raiders and raiders they had aboard their baseship, were offloaded to Argona and taken under guard to Avalon.

The rebel Cylon baseship was towed by an FTL capable fleet tug and moved until it reached the sun of a nearby star system. The baseship would be consumed and instantly incinerated, with the high intensity heat melting apart the weak and frail metal covering the ship until nothing was left.

**Several hours later, Day 855 Since the Fall**

**Eternity Station, Admiral's Quarters**

President Roslin sat still as a statue, staring at the Cylon number Six Natalie before her. She alternated between looking at her and Admiral Stryker, giving both looks of incredulity.

"The 'rebel' Cylons will be integrated with the fleet, and I think it best that they be placed aboard the Pallas of Athens with the rest of their people, under what has so far been a successful joint military command between colonial fleet officers and the Cylons led by fleet officer _Athena_," Admiral Stryker said again, repeating himself as the President continued wear her look of incredulity, frozen in shock.

"Are you insane Admiral? Just welcome back our former enemies, who only too recently were trying to kill us all, just like that?" President Roslin asked in indignation.

Admiral Stryker looked up and grabbed at his head, then said mockingly, "I believe my faculties are all sufficiently here and accounted for Madam President."

"This isn't a joke Admiral!" President Roslin said, incensed.

"The fact that Tom Zarek of all people is a member of the quorum of Twelve is a joke. The fact that so many people mocked the return of the Cylons and the need for a large scale military is a joke. No Madam President, welcoming back 'enemies', or people who we've been fighting and who've killed a number of our people and previously looked for our deaths, is not a joke. Sadly. That's just the fracked up, twisted reality we find ourselves in," Admiral Stryker said disdainfully.

"So you yourself don't agree with this. You know it's wrong too!" President Roslin accused.

"What I know is that forcing the Cylons to leave isn't an option because of the harvesters and the other Cylons – either way they'd become a liability then. Locking them up is inhumane and accomplishes nothing. Now that they've destroyed the resurrection hub, we could kill them. Say we did that for whatever 'justified' reasons, then what? They came to us seeking peace, an alliance, and to put the past to rest once and for all; what would that say about us, as a people, to turn around and kill them all?" Admiral Stryker said.

"They're Cylons! Give them half a chance and they'll betray us. Maybe those led by Athena could be managed, and being so few an agreement is acceptable considering that they've mostly been on our side from our first encounter with them, from the start! At the end of the day maybe they'll be like all Cylons, but what is certain is that these 'rebel' Cylons have already shown their true colors, already shown they can't be trusted," President Roslin said vehemently.

"So we're at war because of their race is that it?" Admiral Stryker asked.

"Yes!" President Roslin stated emphatically.

"There are so many details involved in why we are at war, it goes beyond just their race. We're fighting to protect our people at any cost Madam President. Any way we can, with what is arguably a ghost of our people and our fleet's former strength. Now, these people come to us offering a truce, quite actually offering a way to end the war for good if we take them in, and you just want to say no because they are Cylons? How can we refuse their offer, clearly made in good faith given all they've been through to get here, when this is an opportunity to continue the fight and to find a way to win the war - no matter what it takes? Or does that just apply as a justification for the loss of colonial lives in seeing this war finished?" Admiral Stryker asked.

President Roslin was at a loss for words, her mouth gaped open until she gathered herself and finally settled for glaring at Admiral Stryker.

"You can't just unilaterally declare something like this! " President Roslin said indignantly, changing tactics.

"I can. I did. It's done," Admiral Stryker said, gritting his teeth tightly in anger.

"The rest of the Admiralty-" President Roslin started to say before Admiral Stryker interjected.

"Made a large fuss, required a great deal of time and patience to listen to, with several clinging to their rage and anger at the Cylons, even though tactically most of them had the sense to see the logic to these actions. I had to sit through that, let them vent, because they are the leaders of our military fleets. I need their assistance, their compliance, and their loyalty. I even owe them such as brothers in arms. I owe you nothing, I need nothing from you. I will do whatever it takes to make Avalon safe, even if that means going around you as the head of the government," Admiral Stryker said darkly.

"No one has the right to go above the government, the will of the people-" President Roslin started to say before Admiral Stryker interrupted.

"I have the only right! I look to the safety of our people even if that means taking actions they don't agree with, and going against their government. I was given one job, to bring our people to safety and stop any threat that comes to them. Being the only thing that keeps our enemies from killing all of our people on Avalon gives me the authority to supersede all others. You will obey and go along with what is required with that in mind!" Admiral Stryker shouted furiously, giving the President no option number two.

President Roslin was silent for a long moment before saying anything, "Then you hand Zarek the only real ammunition he needs to bring all-out war to our people. Never mind the Cylons or Harvesters, our own people will start killing each other over this!"

"Not the issue we face today Madam President, but when we come to it we will be ready. It's coming no matter what. Maybe this decision is a lightning rod bringing it faster, but we'd face this issue anyway no matter what, so I will not see fear of Zarek and what he will do influence the greatest decision put before our people since the armistice with the Cylons!" Admiral Stryker said.

Realizing there would be no reasoning with the Admiral and she'd get nowhere trying, President Roslin turned to Natalie Six.

"So what say you? What could possibly motivate us to trust you now?" President Roslin asked.

"We're rebels of the Cylon race. We can't go back and we have nowhere else to go. What matters most to us is being with the Five, securing our people's future and safety, and if it's possible in this world – atoning for what we've done," Natalie Six said.

"And you think you can? That's all well and good, but utterly useless at being convincing that we should take you in," President Roslin said dismissively.

"If we join with you, we both survive. Our people are united and could survive, and yours can benefit in a peaceful alliance with us, particularly in finally bringing the Cylon threat to you to an end," Natalie Six said.

President Roslin nodded, "All well and good, reasons to go ahead with this yes. So long as you don't stab is in the back or end up lying later on."

"We can debate back and forth until the end of time and your distrust will not be lessened by one iota Madam President. You can take the offer or not, everything's already been laid on the table," Natalie Six said boldly, refusing to be cowed.

"Seems I have no choice then. Very well. I won't see the government being responsible for a schism among our people, by my own hand, by refusing this deal. No matter what you say Admiral, the people need to see the government and military working together cohesively, even if they end up not liking what we decide, or it'll mean a civil war for all intents and purposes, between supporting either of us," President Roslin said.

Admiral Stryker simply nodded, and having gotten what he needed and seeing the obvious need in Roslin to leave, he escorted her out of his quarters, abruptly ending their meeting.

Over the next few weeks, the rebel Cylons would be integrated among the fleet. Many of their number joined the crew on the Pallas of Athens, rounding off their crew compliment, along with the centurions and raiders they had brought with them. Others joined the protected, guarded, Cylon camp on Avalon, where they were developing their own place on the planet and slowly finding their place with the colonials. Officially the Cylons had asylum under the government and the military, the exact details remaining hazy to many in the civilian population.

Slowly, rumors spread among the population covering the inhabited areas of Avalon. Before long, the worst version of what had happened in recent events had spread among the people, with no official story on the matter released.

The embers of dissatisfaction and fear among the people, that had long been present and slowly had been in the process of being encouraged by the people's worst fears and seeing recent actions by the military and government, started growing. The fires of hatred and chaos had been stirred, and would not easily be put to rest.


End file.
